New England Dairy Responds to COVID-19

Partnering with Schools to Provide Meals

In the last week all public schools in our five New England states have closed for an undetermined amount of time. Within a few short days, districts have developed plans to continue providing breakfast and lunch meals to their students. This has i ncluded delivery along bus routes, curbside pickup at school buildings, and setting up distribution locations in apartment complexes and other areas with high need.

New England Dairy is working with our schools and partners to develop solutions that will help get meals and milk to students by:

Identifying school districts that need coolers to safely transport milk from vehicles or locations that do not have plug-in refrigeration; so far we have donated 767 milk coolers to school districts in need
Working with regional milk processors and distributors, food banks, and anti-hunger organizations to address situations of school milk over- and under-supply
Continually monitoring the needs of our school districts and partners, and offering assistance to support the milk and dairy needs in our region
Our team is working in collaboration with the national team at DMI to share needs as they come in; GENYOUth may have a potential funder for school meal equipment needs such as additional milk coolers

Addressing Increased Demand for Dairy

As demand for milk surges, NMPF and IDFA are leading supply chain efforts and communications. IDFA is collaborating with food industry trade groups to bring concerns and issues to the Administration for action.

Retailers are addressing increased demand by:

Adding staff to support ongoing stocking
Implementing controlled shopping hours to clean and restock, minimizing out of stock time
Limiting purchases of milk, eggs, paper products, and hand sanitizer due to panic buying and stockpiling

Processing brands are addressing increased demand by:

Prioritizing multi-serve and high-turn products, such as gallons and 1/2 gallons of whole and 2% milk
Prioritizing retail and schools over foodservice locations
Ensuring coverage in metro areas with high volume needs

Given the ongoing changing environment, there may be pockets of limited disruption across the supply chain. There is not a milk shortage.

Resources to Share with your Communities

We're compiling resources on a range of topics for families, children, and consumers.

Visit our blog, check our social media for regular updates, and share these resources with your networks.

New England Dairy | 1034 Commonwealth Ave. | Boston, MA 02215 | NewEnglandDairy.com

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