The COVID-19 pandemic has turned our world upside down, with small businesses being hit especially hard. This is a pivotal time for SMBs, and the way they respond to the pressure will determine how their business runs for years to come. Many companies are taking this difficult situation and turning it into an opportunity. In our Positive Pivots series, we’re diving deeper into what these innovative businesses have done, and what lies beneath the surface to produce this kind of creativity and resilience.

This week we spoke with David Rubin, Partner of Perfect Pact LLC, to learn how his business is adapting in the face of COVID-19.

What is your business?

Founded in 2007, Perfect Pact LLC is a niche produce brokerage and refrigerated transportation provider for large restaurants, food banks, and food processors. With 1000+ local farms in our network, Perfect Pact can source any quantity and variety of vegetables and fruits grown in the USA.

How did COVID-19 affect your operations?

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the initial shock to the food supply chain and the business was remarkable. With a huge number of restaurants closed, farmers were forced to take drastic measures like dumping milk and plowing over crops. Because of this massive disruption, we needed to come up with a new way to connect growers with those looking for produce. We were forced to ramp up non-traditional sales and marketing channels, which is why we decided to explore digital.

How did your product offering pivot during this unusual time?

In April, under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the US federal government was authorized to purchase agricultural products and distribute them to those in need. Through this program, the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) partners with distributors who have been significantly impacted by the closure of restaurants, hotels, and other food service businesses, to purchase up to US $3 billion in fresh produce, dairy, and meat products from American producers of all sizes. Perfect Pact was awarded a contract, and since May we have distributed 2 million boxes of food, created numerous jobs at ten different packing locations, and fed over 10 million meals over the past 16 weeks.

Our digital channels (of which Alibaba.com is one) have been critical in helping us carry out our mission and distributing healthy food more efficiently.

How do you think the pivot you made in response to COVID-19 will have a long term impact on your business?

Through the last four months, we have seen the power of ecommerce and digital channels, and they have become essential to our business. We expect to ramp up our use of digital as a way to better serve our local growers and our customers.