When the going gets tough, the tough get creative. Take Bacardí for instance. Having had to cancel its much anticipated Bacardí Legacy Global Cocktail Competition due to be held in Miami in May, the company has turned its attention to the matter in hand. Battling Covid-19.
What better way to utilise the power that comes from being the world’s largest rum distillery than using your raw materials to make much needed hand sanitisers? Not alone we might add. Like the best things in life, it’s the result of an inspired partnership. In this particular instance, a collaboration between the Bacardí Corporation distillery and Olein Refinery in Puerto Rico – Bacardí providing the ethanol with Olein Refinery adding the required disinfectants needed to keep the dreaded virus at bay. Together, they’ll produce more than 1.7 million units of 250ml hand sanitisers.
Production started last week (17th March), and half a million of the bottles will be donated to local communities, police, firefighters and all employees and contractors of Bacardi. The rest will be given to non-profit organisations. “This is a family-owned business and we know what it means to take care of a community in need,” says Jose Class, VP, Supply Chain & Manufacturing, for Bacardí Latin America and the Caribbean. “In the 158 years of Bacardí, we’ve endured our share of challenging times and have learned that resilience, optimism and community are what will help us come out stronger.”
They’re not alone in their thinking. A number of distilleries around the world are using their alcohol to do exactly the same thing. Earlier this week Diageo announced that it was donating two million litres of the stuff to manufacturing partners. That equates to eight million bottles of 250ml hand sanitisers which will be made available to health workers and patients in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, Italy, USA, Brazil, Kenya, India and Australia. Pernod Ricard meanwhile has partnered with Laboratoire Cooper to offer 70,000 litres of alcohol which will go to produce 1.8million 50ml bottles. And LVMH and BrewDog are doing their bit to combat the hand sanitiser shortage too.
But it’s not only the big boys who are doing their bit to fight the coronavirus. Like many small producers Mark Marmont is using the stills in his Haggerston facilities to make sanitisers. Monies raised from sales will a) help with the shortage of sanitising products, b) alleviate lack of funds for Mark and his staff during this crisis and c) help support The Drinks Trust charity. The 58 Gin Hand Gin-itizer Spray is available in 200ml bottles (one per customer), priced at £6 each (excl p&p), with a percentage of the profits going to The Drinks Trust.
Get yours from 58gin.com
And don’t forget to still keep washing those hands!
