Invico, an acronym for Ingredient Visionary Company, was founded in 2012 by Arnold Thorstad, Roberto Delli and Jay Ajmara to develop sustainable food ingredient supply chains and technologies around the world. Medivico – Medical Visionary Company – was born in February 2020 in response to COVID-19-related PPE shortages that began in Italy and Europe, and arrived shortly after in the United States.
Roberto is an Italian whose familial network was tasked by the Italian government to do due diligence on various factories to supply medical-grade masks, gowns and gloves to hospitals throughout the country. Once Covid began to affect the U.S., Arnold’s mother, who is in partial remission from breast cancer and who works at a large hospital in Chicago, shared the need for her and her colleagues to reuse masks due to shortages. It became obvious the expertise of Invico in world trade could easily transfer to PPE and to help those in need in the U.S.
Challenges in supply for 2021 will primarily come from medical-grade products due to the mass use of these goods at overloaded hospitals. There are limited factories that have the necessary certifications, capacities and quality available to protect the world’s healthcare workers and patients from airborne diseases, blood penetration, and pathogen prevention. Medivico’s ability to match hospital’s desired specification for goods, intel in import/export, and close relations with partners in foreign countries that produce PPE has allowed the company to confidently and effectively supply products in a market with a great deal of mistrust and fraud.
Medivico will be operating with urgency well into 2021 and beyond. Many will not inoculate due to fears, and eventually, elective surgeries will return to keep hospitals at maximum capacity. Medivico has been able to build trust and provide quality in a time where so many have failed the system.
