THOMASVILLE — Thomasville’s century-old hometown bakery faced and conquered challenges delivered by the Great Depression and World War II.

Flowers employees faced the challenges, including major hurricanes that disrupted production and markets in wide geographic areas.

As a food manufacturer, Flowers Foods today is part of the nation’s critical infrastructure as outlined by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said Mary Krier, Flowers Foods senior vice president for communications and corporate responsibility.

“We have a special responsibility to provide for the nutritional needs of Americans during this time,” Krier said. “We take our responsibility to deliver safe, quality food products to the marketplace very seriously.”

Bakery, sales teams and independent distributors in Thomasville and nationwide are doing an incredible job meeting the increased demand for food in the pandemic, Krier  said.

“Unfortunately, the surge in food demand over the last few weeks has made it necessary for us to temporarily halt production of some product varieties, like Nature’s Own Sugar-Free bread, so we can focus on mainline items to meet the market’s needs,” Krier said.

Favorite varieties will return when demand returns to normal.

All sanitation recommendations from the CDC and U.S. Food and Drug Administration are being followed at Flowers Foods’ 46 bakeries nationwide.

Stringent food-safety policies and procedures were already in place. High-traffic and high-touch areas at bakeries, warehouses and thrift stores are cleaned and sanitized daily, Krier said.

Team members and essential visitors to bakeries are screened daily for the virus and for exposure to the virus through contact with others or through travel.

A Flowers Foods pandemic task force has been established to monitor COVID-19 updates from federal and state agencies and other sources. The task force conducts daily calls to determine if further actions are needed.

Krier said bakeries are operating well. Flowers Foods employees who have jobs that can be done remotely are doing so.

“Our team is experienced, and we have strong bakery and sales networks,” Krier said. “No one can predict what might happen in the weeks ahead, but we will face those challenges with the same courage and inspiration as in the past.”