SAN ANTONIO – Rebecca Creek Distillery has temporarily shifted its production of whiskey to hand sanitizer, according to company officials.
The production shift is in response to the shortage of hand cleansers and the growing needs of local first responders and the medical community amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The first 16,000 liters of sanitizer made by the distillery were donated to first responders.
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued temporary production guidelines for the manufacturing of certain alcohol-based hand sanitizer products to respond to the shortage of hand cleansers.
Top company officials said they are working closely with crisis management officials from various state and local agencies to distribute the alcohol-based hand cleansers.
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“Our initial production run estimate is 16,000 liters of alcohol-based hand cleansers to respond to the growing needs of our local first responders and local health officials. We are distributing the alcohol-based hand cleanser in bulk and in 375 ml bottles. Our hand cleanser will be 80 percent ethanol alcohol by volume as required by the FDA under their temporary guidelines. We are working with the state of Texas and local officials to dispense the hand cleansers per their direction,” said Steve Ryan, co-owner and chief financial officer.
Steve Ison, founder and co-owner, knew his company had the capabilities to make the switch in production.
“We approach our social responsibility very seriously. In these times of a global pandemic, we are responding by aiding our local first responders and healthcare community by producing and donating the alcohol-based hand cleanser. They do so much to protect and save lives every day, and now, we have a chance to safeguard their lives too,” Ison said.
Distribution of the newly produced alcohol-based hand cleansers will begin later this week.
COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new virus, stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The disease first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, but spread around the world in early 2020, causing the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic in March.
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