Dewar’s distillery helps ambulance service

A Scotch whisky distillery is diverting its alcohol into helping the NHS.

Bacardi has expanded its commitment across countries and brands to help produce more than 237,000 gallons (900,000 litres) of hand sanitisers, as worldwide demand continues to exceed supply in efforts to reduce the risk of Covid-19.

This week, eight Bacardi-owned manufacturing sites across Scotland, the United States, Mexico, France, England and Italy are joining the efforts, following last week’s announcement that Bacardi in Puerto Rico would supply alcohol to make hand sanitisers.

Across the sites, Bacardi is diverting its global production power, resources and processes to supply the much-needed alcohol essential for the increased production of hand sanitisers.

Perthshire’s Dewar’s Aberfeldy Distillery has today announced that it will be supporting the production of hand sanitiser for the Scottish Ambulance Service among other local community groups, as worldwide demand continues to exceed supply in efforts to reduce the spread of coronavirus. Bacardi is also playing a part in donating these products to local organisations, as well as its employees and contractors.

In addition, the company is providing alcohol at cost to select partner companies looking to ramp up their production of hand sanitisers for commercial sale. These temporary, emergency actions at all locations will not disrupt the supply of brands in the Bacardi portfolio.

Jean-Marc Lambert, SVP global operations for Bacardi, said: ‘Over our 158-year history, we have risen to many challenges and we are doing the same again in response to covid-19.

‘All our brands and partners involved in this initiative will help people most in need benefit from the supply of these hand sanitizers. Our goal is to make a very real difference in the fight against covid-19.’