COROWA Whisky and Chocolate Factory is now pumping out hand sanitiser to meet soaring demand amid the coronavirus crisis.
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On Tuesday the factory will offer hand sanitiser for sale to the public in Special Edition whisky bottles or by the drum.
Corowa Whisky and Chocolate Factory managing director Dean Druce said the company had diversified into hand sanitiser since COVID-19 public health orders had forced the closure of cafes and functions.
Mr Druce said he had rolled out hand sanitiser production to help protect more people from the spread of the virus and save jobs since their cafe closed and eight weddings were cancelled.
"We wanted to support everyone in the Border and North East catchment by supplying hand sanitiser to keep them safe," he said.
"We also wanted to keep our doors open and keep our staff employed."
Mr Druce said it took them two weeks to get the ingredients for hand sanitiser and one week to modify their production line.
He said they were able to keep on most of their 35 staff.
"As of this afternoon, all of our staff who are available are working on bottling hand sanitiser," Mr Druce said.
"We'll have 5000 bottles ready for tomorrow as well as the drums (5, 10 and 20 litres)."
IN OTHER CORONAVIRUS NEWS:
Hand sanitiser can now be made without approval or notification to the Therapeutic Goods Administration, so long as producers follow World Health Organisation recipes.
Benalla-based Persephone Creations By Kris owner Kristine Piper said she had experienced a decade-high demand for her naturally-made hand sanitiser.
"I've sent 40 bottles to Canberra; I'd say sales are up 200 to 250 per cent," she said.
Yackandandah-based Backwoods Distilling Co co-owner Leigh Attwood said he would supply Albury's Border Compounding Pharmacy with ethanol to make hand sanitiser.
"It's a couple of hundred litres of ethanol, which is the higher alcohol cut out of the spirit that we normally destroy," he said.
"We're just happy to help out with what is essentially a waste product."
Mr Druce said inquiries for hand sanitiser from around Australia had escalated in recent weeks.
"We had people wanting 50 millilitres or 100 millitres to people saying how much can you supply," he said.
Corowa Whisky and Chocolate Factory will open its retail shop on Tuesday at 9am.
The Special Edition hand sanitiser, which carries the Corowa Distilling Co brand, will not be available online.
