Union Coop commits to meeting the needs of consumers and employees for safety 

Dubai, UAE, by Al Bayan.

Union Coop continues to meet the basic needs of the community, especially food products, considering this as a National Duty in light of current exceptional circumstances and any other times.

Especially, since the directives of the wise leadership were clear with regards to the fulfilment and security of all necessary needs of all the members of the society, whether citizens or residents and ensure the steady availability of all food products at all times. Wherein Union Coop works actively to implement the directives of the wise leadership, which always prioritizes the interest of the society and its individuals above everything else.

Quality services 

Speaking on the vitality of Union Coop’s nature of services and responsibility, H.E. Majid Hamad Rahma Al Shamsi, Chairman of Union Coop stressed that Union Coop understands the size of its responsibility in providing one of the basic essential services that no community can spare. That is the steady availability of food supplies. He hereby noting that Union Coop continuously works as a team to implement the vision and directives of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and ruler of Dubai, May God Bless Him and his brother H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, in order to achieve peace of mind for all members of the society, Citizens and Residents alike as well as visiting guests, to continue providing quality services that live up to the aspirations of consumers, despite the unexpected situation faced by our country and the world as a result of the outbreak of ‘Corona’ epidemic, which Union Coop Board of Directors consider as a National Duty that cannot be violated under any circumstances

Preventive Measures

On the preventive measures and precautionary steps followed in various branches and premises of Union Coop, Al Shamsi stressed that Union Coop was among the first to apply the preventive guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health & Prevention, Dubai Health Authority (DHA), Dubai Municipality and all the entities involved in combating the new Coronavirus, to provide a safe and healthy environment for all customers as well as to all members of the working teams in all Union Coop outlets. Thereby stressing that health and safety requirements are at the forefront of things that Union Coop is keen to ensure their application all the times. This include amplifying the slots for home delivery services, which has experienced a great boom in recent times. Especially with the decision to extend the sterilization operations in Dubai to 24 hours a day, which ultimately applied a lot of pressure on Union Coop but never discouraged its resolve, but rather increased its determination to double the efforts for the convenience and safety all members of the society.

Suppliers from about 50 Countries 

In addition, on the availability of food products, whether fresh or frozen/canned, H.E. Khalid Humaid Bin Diban Al Falasi, CEO of Union Coop, said: “We want to reassure the public that all food supplies continue to be available through our dealings with  suppliers from about 50 countries, which enhances our ability to meet the needs of our consumers at all times. Union Coop also has one of the largest warehouses in the world, which stores food and household goods.

Union Coop ensures an undisrupted supply of food and nonfood products through adopting multiple alternatives. We have agreements worth AED 25 Million for the supply of fresh food products available at our warehouses and suppliers’ warehouses of international standards.

In an effort to further ease the burden on all classes of the society, Union Coop allocated the first morning hour from 7 to 8 AM, serving only senior citizens and residents, where all units of Cashiers fulfil the transactions quickly, thereby making the process faster and avoiding mix-ups with others. Union Coop ensures maintaining a high level of quality of all its products, whether vegetables, fruits, meat, poultry, and fresh fish – whether local or imported, as well as Diary products of all kinds, baked, frozen foods, dried and preserved foods, drinks and juices, in addition to cereals and preserved foods, and household items ranging from kitchen utensils, detergents, immediate supplies of children and infants, cosmetics, personal care products that represent the basic needs of each house.

Al Falasi further confirmed that the Cooperative has signed supplier contracts for Ramadan goods worth AED 450 million to ensure abundance supply and meet customer needs.

Periodic Sterilization 

On the details of the precautionary measures applied by Union Coop in its various outlets, Dr. Suhail Al-Bastaki, Director of Happiness and Marketing Department at Union Coop said that Union Coop was one of the first retail outlets to implement the principle of ‘social distancing’ by installing ‘safe distance’ markers on the ground in the billing area, vegetable weighing area, butchery section, to organize the process of waiting in queue for weight and payment, while maintaining a safe distance between the shoppers.

In addition to the keenness of Union Coop to enable the consumers and staff to wear masks and gloves, according to the directives of the Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management in Dubai. Union Coop installed transparent Acrylic barriers separating the Cashiers and Consumer Happiness center executives from the consumers, thereby providing an additional level of protection for all parties.

Al Bastaki stressed that Union Coop has been particular about the application of highest protection levels including continuous sterilization of shopping carts throughout the day, by coating the handles of the cart with single-use and environmentally friendly plastic lamination, which are biodegradable once the shopper transfers the items to his vehicle, as well as periodic sterilization of all departments in all branches at the end of working hours.

Likewise sterilizing the staff transportation buses to and from the branches, reducing the number of staffs in buses and confirming distance between them, in addition to examining the employees daily before entering the Union Coop branches in the morning and to the accommodations at night by recording their body temperature and following-up on their commitment to preventive procedures and instructions.

In order to strengthen the level of protection provided to the consumers at Union Coop branches and achieve the principle of social distancing, Union Coop decided to prevent the entry of children and reduce the number of shoppers by allowing only 1 member from a family inside and in exceptional cases 2 members from a family, while distributing gloves before they enter Union Coop shopping facility to provide a safe environment that not only protects the consumer but also those around him.

Union Coop also worked to raise its operational capacity with respect to home delivery requests, where the Director of Happiness and Marketing explained that the current conditions have caused a huge boom in the home delivery requests, while Union Coop has doubled its work to keep pace with this boom in an attempt to meet all needs. This implies great difficulty, especially since the number of orders per day exceeds 800, which is about 640% more than the normal rate.

Al Bastaki pointed out that Union Coop has resorted to several alternatives to enhance its ability to meet the growing demands of home delivery, including contracts with Dubai Taxi, as well as several delivery companies and volunteers from Union Coop’s shareholders who contribute to the distribution requests to homes, especially senior citizens and people of determination. Union Coop is even appealing to the public to understand the pressure on Union Coop and the suppliers due to the massive increase in the volume of home delivery requests.

With regard to the prices of commodities and food products and the alleged increase in their prices due to the current situation, the Director of Happiness and Marketing Department in Union coop affirmed that the prices are subject to a strict control process by various supervisory and competent authorities, and therefore it is impossible to increase prices at random.

Ongoing services

Union Coop provides its services to the public daily, seven days a week, from seven in the morning until midnight, through 17 branches distributed in the regions: Satwa, Rashidiya, Al-Twar, Hamriyah, Al-Mankhool, Jumeirah, Al Wasl, Mirdif, Al Barsha, Umm Suqeim, and International City, Al Aweer, Abu Hail, Al Mamzar, Al Mizhar, The Pointe, Palm Jumeirah, and Nad Al Sheba, in addition to two malls, Al Barsha Mall in Al Barsha, and Etihad Mall in Al Muhaisnah.