CHIVAS Brothers, the Pernod Ricard-owned whisky company, has despatched two tankers of grain spirit to manufacturing partners as part of its effort to help produce hand sanitiser gel for frontline NHS staff.
The tankers are part of an initial donation of 100,000 litres of pure alcohol which will be used to produce 120,000 litres of hand sanitiser gel for NHS staff across the UK.
Meanwhile, the company will be packaging 1000 litres of the gel at its bottling plant in Dumbarton every day. An initial batch of 4000 litres of gel will be joined by an additional 15,000 litres next week, which was produced at Pernod Ricard’s Plymouth Gin distillery in England.
After it is packaged the gel will be distributed to healthcare workers across Scotland as well as to communities in the Dumbarton area.
Chivas chief executive Jean-Christophe Coutures said: “Combatting COVID-19 requires a collective effort from everyone. We’re fortunate to have ready access to ethanol and state-of-the-art facilities, so we are determined to do all we can to help increase the production of hand sanitiser, which is so essential in preventing the spread of the virus.
“We are proud to be joining our fellow distillers across the industry and the wider Pernod Ricard group in this battle and will continue to look for ways to assist wherever it is needed.”
