In response to the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), Jeroen Diderich, Avery Dennison's VP and GM, Label and Graphic Materials for North America, has issued the following statement:

"As we all navigate the challenges of COVID-19, I want to reinforce our ongoing actions to ensure the health and safety of our employees, and our commitment to service our customers even in times of turbulence. We are grateful and proud of the dedication of our employees and our customers who make our brand stand tall every day. We are continuing to lead by our values of courage, teamwork and integrity to ensure the safety of our teams while maintaining our operations and quality so that you can meet the demand of your customers during this time of uncertainty.

"Our customer service, sales representatives and application consultants are fully functional while working from their homes. As always, you are welcome to reach out to them with your product questions. We ask for your patience as we deal with unusually high demand right now. We will be focusing our efforts on fulfilling orders for essential consumer products like food, beverage, healthcare and pharmaceutical as those items are critical for the public.

"All Avery Dennison employees who can work remotely are doing so. Manufacturing is at the core of what we do, and we appreciate these employees that are able to come into the production sites and keep things running. In sites that are remaining open, we have implemented a temporary hourly pay premium. Any employee who feels unwell is being asked to stay home. Employees coming into work are being asked to take their temperature daily. We are providing thermometers as needed. At sites that are open, proper handwashing and hygiene are mandated. Employees are also practicing social distancing of six feet. All in-person meetings have been limited or eliminated if possible.

"We know we have a commitment to you and to ourselves. We will not let you down. I look forward to getting out to meet many of you as this situation passes and things get back to normal. We all recognize that this is a very difficult and uncertain time for everyone, but we are not losing sight of the importance of our work. We hope you and yours are staying healthy and we look forward to better times for our continued work together. Thank you for our partnership, for your loyalty and especially for the collaboration in today’s challenges."