MALDEN, N.B. – Instead of watching vodka move across the production line of his micro distillery near Aulac, N.B., Devon Strang is watching bottles of hand sanitizer being filled.
Like other distilleries around the region, Blue Roof Distillers in Malden has switched production to assist essential workers maintain their supply of sanitizer.
“Two weeks ago, we decided we were going to do this. From there we reached out to Health Canada to get a licence to produce it and get a product identifier number,” said Strang, the founder and CEO of Blue Roof Distillers. “We ordered bottles and we ordered the ingredients that go in the product.”
A sixth-generation family farm on the highway between Aulac and Port Elgin, Strang noticed it was near impossible to find hand sanitizer for his staff and he knows a lot of other businesses are in the same situation – some of whom are essential to the fight against COVID-19, including truck drivers, farmers and nursing homes.
Using the World Health Organization recipe for hand sanitizer, the company ordered what it hoped would be a sufficient amount of glycerin and hydrogen peroxide. Unfortunately, the shipment got lost and Strang had to go around the area pharmacies to stock up on enough supplies to produce the first batch.
“We picked up enough to start and got by with little bottles of peroxide and glycerin,” he said. “We went to 15 to 20 pharmacies looking for the materials and they all had limits on because there’s such a high demand.”
Alcohol is an integral part of the process, which is why distilleries have switched their production from alcoholic beverages to sanitizer. It takes about seven days to produce the alcohol from potatoes.
“We’re doing it because we make alcohol. We’re not a significant size as a craft distillery but we’re going to do what we can,” he said. “All we can make is what we can do.”
The recipe for sanitizer is pretty simple, Strang said. Blue Roof Distillers is using 80 per cent alcohol in its recipe.
“It’s 80 per cent alcohol so it’s a very strong hand sanitizer. It’s pretty much the best it gets,” Strang said. “The stuff you get on the shelf at the store is about 55 to 70 per cent alcohol. The higher percentage the better it is at disinfecting surfaces or your hands.”
Using two weeks of alcohol it had available, Blue Roof Distillers produced between 500 and 600 litres of hand sanitizer.
“We can do between 250 and 300 litres a week,” Strang said. “It’s fairly small, but it’s what we can do. We’re trying to pump out as much as we can but the fermentation and the process of making the alcohol takes time.”
The one-litre bottles are meant to be used to refill other bottles. Strang said the priority is selling to essential service providers.
“If you’re forced to work through this pandemic we’re going to make you our priority,” he said. “After that we’ll do retail if we can. Whatever we have left at the end of a given week we’ll put on our web shop for sale.”
For Strang, he’s hoping the production of hand sanitizer will offset the losses expected this summer from its onsite distillery store. He’s not expecting many tourists to drop by the store and pick up its premium spirits and tour.
“We thought if we switched over and did hand sanitizer while people needed it we could keep our staff here and not lay them off and keep the staff working here at the farm safe,” he said. “The margins are not great. We sell a litre of hand sanitizer for $25 when we sell a 750 ml bottle of premium vodka for $35. We’re working on almost half margins but it’s for a good cause and we’re willing to do our part.”
Strang said he has been receiving numerous calls and emails from trucking firms, farmers and others wanting to purchase the bottles because there is such a shortage in the market. He just wishes he could produce more.
