Mika Manninen has been on the road for approximately 75% of 2020.
As the CEO and co-founder of dairy-free yogurt brand Hälsa Foods, the Finnish native who now resides in Palm Beach, Florida, has taken 33 flights (including four abroad) and spent 160 nights in hotels in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Seattle, London and Helsinki. Since the beginning of March — while much of the rest of the world has been sheltering at home — Manninen has spent nine days in his own house.
Manninen is an essential worker — one of 11.3 million people who are employed in the U.S. food and agriculture industry. As the only person in his company who travels (so that other employees don’t have to), he maintains he has followed quarantine rules “to the hilt” and has quarantined in hotel rooms for 14 days when required.
“There are several trips I did not do, some I deemed too risky, and with others, we could not figure out the rules,” he said.
For the business trips he did take, Manninen relies on a strict safety routine when on the road.
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