CUB now in hand sanitiser business

The nation’s largest brewer will donate at least 20,000 litres of hand sanitiser to frontline medical staff.

CUB chief executive Peter Filipovic with hand sanitiser, which the brewer will donate to frontline medical personnel

It may not be as miraculous as turning water into wine, but brewer Carlton & United Breweries will answer the prayers of healthcare workers and vulnerable members of the community by helping to transform ethanol into sanitiser.

The nation’s largest brewer and maker of brands such as Carlton Draught, Melbourne Bitter and Great Northern will donate at least 20,000 litres of hand sanitiser to frontline medical staff as they fight COVID-19 in emergency wards around the country.

The project has been launched to help doctors and nurses while hand sanitiser is in short supply. CUB said at least 40,000 500ml bottles were being produced for healthcare workers in partnership with leading hygiene company Ecolab.

Crucially, CUB helped Ecolab source the ethanol at a time when the raw material is extremely hard to come by.

CUB chief executive Peter Filipovic said the brewer felt it was an important act of corporate and social responsibility to help gather the raw materials to make batches of sanitiser and pay for its production.

“We have the relationships and the know-how to get a project like this up and running quickly,’’ he said. “We’ll have more announcements soon about how we’re helping pubs and other customers get through this. We are donating the whole lot, we introduced the ethanol producer Manildra Group to ­Ecolab, they will manufacture it and deliver it to who we direct it to be sent to.”

All CUB’s hand sanitiser will be donated, and will also be offered to vulnerable people in the community via support agencies, bottle shops, pubs, clubs and its suppliers. And all CUB employees will get some of the sanitisers and this will account for another 10,000 litres, bringing total production to 30,000 litres.

Ecolab managing director Jan Pacas said: “We are very happy to be partnering with CUB and ensuring hand sanitiser gets to those who need it most. This partnership has provided a big boost to our hand sanitiser production in a time when it’s been crucially needed — especially for our healthcare providers who are on the frontline.”

The first bottles are expected to start leaving Ecolab’s facilities next week.