Éxito Producing 2 Million Coronavirus Masks Every Week; Heading to Stores Soon

Medellin-based Grupo Exito announced April 7 that it’s accelerating mass production of special masks to protect against Coronavirus infections – and plans to sell the masks at its Exito, Carulla, Surtimax, SuperInter and Surtimayorista stores throughout Colombia.

“Today more than 3,000 people are dedicated to making face masks in the workshops where the clothes of Grupo Éxito’s own brands are usually made,” according to the company.

“Around 50 manufacturing workshops of Grupo Éxito’s own brands, located in Antioquia, Valle del Cauca, Caldas and Tolima, are now spaces dedicated to the manufacture of fabric face masks, commonly known as face masks.”

The urgent need for mass production is not only to protect supermarket and pharmacy workers, public utility workers and many others exempt from the current quarantine, but also to protect the general public, the company noted.

“The national government has established the mandatory use of face masks in public transport systems, areas of massive influx of people, people with respiratory symptoms and high-risk groups,” according to Exito.

“Likewise, the making of these cloth masks represents an important boost in a [textile-clothing] sector hit by the effects of Covid-19, to preserve the employment of more than 3,000 collaborators linked to the project.”

So far, 20 million face masks have been progressively manufactured since March 18.

“Weekly more than 2 million units are produced by 3,000 people in Cali, Manizales, Ibagué, Medellín, Sabaneta, Envigado, Itagüí, Bello, Santa Rosa de Osos and Don Matías, who as a result of this activity keep their jobs,” according to the company.

“With actions like this we promote work in about 50 textile companies, which brings relief in the face of the economic challenges that the sector and its workers are going through,” added Exito president Carlos Mario Giraldo.

Meanwhile, in an April 6 filing with Colombia’s corporate oversight agency Superfinanciera, Medellin-based textile giant Coltejer revealed that it has just restarted a production line — dedicated to production of protective clothing and cleaning supplies for confronting the Coronavirus crisis.

Among other local companies already involved in mass production of special textiles to protect people against Coronavirus is clothing giant Everfit, as noted in a report in daily newspaper El Colombiano.