Like many companies that catered to the foodservice industry, D’Artagnan started operations one day to find that 75 percent of its business was gone. Thanks to the threat of Coronavirus, the restaurant industry essentially shut down. “March 14, boom. No more customers,” says Ariane Daguin, founder of the gourmet food purveyor.
The company not only had product in its Union, N.J., warehouse, but it also had its distribution centers in Chicago, Atlanta, Houston and Denver, along with 78 delivery trucks and hundreds of employees. Quickly, D’Artagnan adapted to the new realities created by the pandemic and shifted its focus to the retail and e-commerce side of the business. It made the shift without having to let go of any of its employees.