A local Calgary distillery is creating its own hand sanitizer

Mar 26 2020, 9:44 pm

Highland Park’s Burwood Distillery was among the many Calgary producers that pivoted to the production of hand sanitizer in the first few weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the time since, they’ve also committed to some donation initiatives to further support their community.

“We gave away our first thousand bottles,” said Burwood’s Jordan Ramey, the CEO and the holder of a PHD in microbiology, in a phone interview with Daily Hive.

“After that, we set up a Google form online for those in need to fill out for donations. A dollar from every bottle sold goes to Mealshare since our restaurant has lost business.”

Burwood’s distillers have been working closely with Health Canada, the Alberta Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis commission, and other local producers to ensure that packaging and product meet the standards to be sold to the public.

Ramey said that most of the money from sales is going back into the production costs for raw materials, labour, and operating.

When it comes to supplying healthcare facilities, Burwood has been advised to focus on providing sanitizer to the public, as the distillery would need a different set of licenses to create a hospital-grade product.

Accredited producers of sanitizers already in possession of such licences are focusing on providing supplies to healthcare while local businesses across Calgary, Alberta, and the country step up to the plate to produce their own hand sanitizer.

So far, Burwood Distillery has donated sanitizer to Inn From The Cold, the RCMP, the City of Calgary, the Town of Okotoks, the Calgary Dream Centre, ATCO Structures, and more.

Ramey also wants to remind consumers to support local in the midst of the pandemic.

“We want to really encourage people to support local businesses as much as possible to keep them open and operating,” said Ramey.

“Order delivery or order takeout. The Alberta Small Brewers Association has released a memo with guidelines to encourage the safe delivery of beer and liquor to users. You can go online for a lot of breweries and local producers to order deliveries with no contact.”

Though it should be mentioned that they are, definitely, still checking IDs.

Jayme TuckerJayme Tucker

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