Grovara Supports 60 Minutes Piece on PPE, Brings Transparency to Supply Chain

Last week, award-winning veteran reporter Lesley Stahl asked many of the questions we’ve all been wondering about PPE on 60 Minutes, uncovering the rampant fraud, shady dealings, and inherent challenges in the global supply chain since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Stahl enlisted Grovara as a source for the story, which aired on the nation’s longest running prime-time program on Dec. 6. You can even see Grovara around the 10:12 mark of the segment, the company’s name printed on a sheet of paper to verify order production. The “proof of life” video tactic is the same used in hostage negotiation situations to verify the imagery, and gives a sense for the diligence required when the entire world needs the same product.

Grovara was a source because as the leading global exporter of American wellness products, we know a thing or two about supply chains, transparency, and logistics. 

We got involved in PPE last winter when a dear friend asked me if I could find some masks to ship to his physician wife’s hospital, which was having trouble procuring masks, gloves and gowns. Upon dipping our toe into the water it became immediately apparent there were sharks everywhere — including the unscrupulous Blueflame featured at the top of the 60 Minutes piece — so we formed an affiliate company called Cadu Medical Supply to bring the transparency and automation of Grovara’s B2B e-commerce marketplace to the PPE market. 

Since February, we’ve been writing about the coronavirus on our blog, sharing our experiences dealing with bad actors across the globe as we navigated the PPE market. With the same diligence we’ve used to become experts in exporting, we’ve now done over $2 million in legitimate PPE sales and have been working with Stahl over the last couple months providing background for her story.

California-based serial entrepreneur Rudy Rong, who has a local connection having graduated from Germantown Friends School and Wharton School, was also featured on the segment. Using his connections to suppliers in China, he was able to build a successful, legitimate online source for PPE. His Magic Ice Cube company has sold to major global brands and government agencies like the FBI. As a result of the connection with the 60 Minutes story, Magic Ice Cube is now a supply partner for Cadu, extending our capabilities and reinforcing our transparent approach.

The Trump Administration did a great disservice to the country by ineffectively utilizing the Defense Production Act and failing to ensure the PPE supply chain last winter. The result is an incredibly fragmented market that is still vulnerable to surges and other disruptions. We are hoping the incoming administration can do something to unify independent operations to facilitate the distribution and aggregation of resources to help end COVID-19 and be ready for the next pandemic.

Because of our work in global distribution and now PPE, we’ve been able to help expose fraud and create pathways. Combine that with Grovara growing the wellness market globally and Cadu bringing trust to PPE, we can all look forward to a healthier 2021.