Business View Caribbean | July 2022

29 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN VOLUME 9, ISSUE 7 den Tweel stores, and in Bonaire, one Van den Tweel store, and another under the name of Warehouse Supermarket. Along with this group of supermarkets, the thriving organization also has two wholesale businesses, Ling & Sons distribution in Aruba, and Fresh Supplier Bonaire. “It’s a mix of brands under the same umbrella as the Van den Tweel Group,” says Barrientos. As essential businesses, all stores under the Van den Tweel Caribbean Group remained open during the pandemic, with safety becoming a priority early on. “We understood the need to tell the customer that our store was safe to shop in. If you walk in our stores, the aisles are wide, not congested. That was an advantage for us, because people felt that they could come to us and have a social distance automatically,” describes Barrientos. “We were the first business on the A,B,C islands to include the temperature controls. This actually encouraged customers to choose us as their first choice. It made our customers know we were doing the best to ensure they could continue to shop in a safe and VAN DEN TWEEL CAR I BBEAN GROUP responsible environment.” Regular disinfecting and cleaning protocols were put in place, shields were installed at cash registers, and hand sanitizing stations were set up throughout each store. Every person was also instructed to take a personal shopping cart to further encourage social distancing. As the stores learned how to operate under these new circumstances, they were faced with the next challenge, which was people over- buying items in fear of shortages. The Van den Tweel Caribbean Group organized a social media campaign to encourage people to buy only what was needed. As Barrientos recounts, “It is interesting when your business is to sell, and you are telling your customer to buy just what they need. On some of the items there was a bit of scarcity, but we managed to contain our flow of goods so there was no fear in any of our stores about the goods coming from overseas.” He adds that although there was a limit on the number of containers brought in at a time,