Follow Local Health Experts' Stay in Place Guidelines

SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The California Grocers Association encourages consumers to listen to their local health officials' directives and consider online shopping and delivery services to get essential products.

For consumers who must go grocery shopping, CGA has issued 10 guidelines to help protect their safety and the safety of grocery store employees. Ron Fong, President and CEO of the California Grocers Association released the following statement:

"State and local health officials say this week is critical in terms of flattening the curve in California. Consumers should listen to health experts and try to stay home as much as possible. But if people have essential needs, they should consider using grocery store delivery services, or ordering items online.

"For consumers who do not have access to online shopping or absolutely need to go to the grocery store, we outlined 10 Guidelines for Safe Shopping to ensure your shopping experience is as safe as possible.

"Customer and employee safety is our industry's No. 1 priority. Grocers have implemented numerous additional safety procedures, including increased disinfecting of stores and important social distancing measures. Grocers have instituted extended procedures to better protect store employees. Rest assured that grocery store employees are also working very hard to re-stock shelves.

"Finally, please remember when you do shop that we are making progress getting our supply chains back to normal after weeks of over-buying. Some products will take longer to consistently see on store shelves, but every effort is being made to return the shopping experience to as close to normal during these times."

Consumers can help out by continuing to "Buy Smart. Don't Overfill Your Cart." There is #Enough4All (https://enoughforallca.com)

About the California Grocers Association: For more than 120 years, the California Grocers Association has served as the voice of the state's grocery community. A nonprofit, statewide trade association, CGA's membership is comprised of over 300 retailers operating more than 6,000 brick-and-mortar stores, and approximately 150 grocery supply companies.

The Association is recognized as the leading resource in the areas of government and industry relations for California's food industry and its customers while also providing continuing education opportunities for industry employees and their children.

SOURCE California Grocers Association