Pernod Ricard Donates Alcohol for Hand Sanitizer Production

The global alcohol company Pernod Ricard is donating pure alcohol to companies that produce hand sanitizer, in an effort to combat Coronavirus.

Health authorities in France had expressed concerns regarding a potential shortage of basic resources, including hand sanitizer. In response, the France-based Pernod Ricard donated about 18,500 gallons of pure alcohol to Laboratoire Cooper, one of France’s leaders in everyday health products, and a lead supplier of hydroalcoholic gels to pharmacies.

This will allow Cooper to increase alcohol deliveries to pharmacies to produce hydroalcoholic gel, the equivalent of approximately 1.8 million 50-ml. vials.

Laboratoire Cooper has committed to donating the equivalent of the donation to various health care associations, the company says.

Other Pernod Ricard subsidiaries around the world are also contributing to local efforts to fight the pandemic and help their communities.

• In Sweden, the distillery of Absolut Vodka has offered spirits at large scale to produce hand sanitizer for public healthcare
• In the U.S., responding to the U.S. Administration’s call to action, Pernod Ricard’s Ft. Smith, Arkansas manufacturing plant and distilleries for Rabbit Hole (Kentucky), Smooth Ambler (West Virginia) and TX Whiskey (Texas) are producing hand sanitizer
• In Spain and Ireland, Pernod Ricard Spain and Irish Distillers have announced they will put their technical, human and production facilities at the service of the authorities to produce hand sanitizer
• Other initiatives are rolling out in other affiliates, including in the United Kingdom, and will be announced shortly.

“As the world is facing a major pandemic, companies must mobilize, not only to ensure the safety of their employees, but also to contribute to collective efforts in accordance with their capabilities,” says Alexandre Ricard, chairman and CEO of Pernod Ricard. “By sharing our resources and making our production facilities available wherever they are needed, we are supporting our fellow citizens and local authorities. I would like to thank our employees who have worked hard to make everything possible in record time, all over the world.”

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash.