(Thompsonville, MI) March 25, 2020 – As the Coronavirus Pandemic has expanded, consumer demand for sanitizer has left store shelves empty. The shortage has also acutely impacted regional critical health and human services organizations.
“It’s been a roller coaster. We were gearing up our staffing for the summertime ahead and working overtime producing spirits, to laying off 98% of our staff due to the government mandate. Then we came to understand how critical the need was for hand sanitizer.” said Richard Anderson, Co-Owner. The federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau issued guidance last Wednesday evening, approving already permitted distillers to make it. Distilleries now can manufacture hand sanitizer products that comprise: Ethanol, Glycerol and Hydrogen peroxide.
“The whole idea of creating the hand sanitizer kind of presented itself to us through the community,” Co-Owner David Wallace said. “We were starting to get all sorts of calls from every segment of our community because there’s just no hand sanitizer out there.” After offering free sanitizer to the public on Saturday, March 21st, and receiving 100’s of calls and emails, the Iron Fish team realized that the demand was overwhelming and health and human service organizations are the immediate priority.
The Iron Fish team has dedicated its entire production capacity to serve the needs of the Munson Healthcare system and front line health care workers at local Benzie and Manistee health and human service agencies assisting those in need living nearby the farm distillery. Iron Fish created their first 50-gallon batch of hand sanitizer earlier this week. It has scaled up to a 500 gallon batch by the end of this week.
Joining Iron Fish to make this urgent project happen are area businesses like Watson Benzie Chrysler who has provided vans for the transportation of critical supplies, and Northwoods Soda who has donated the hundreds of gallon containers necessary to fulfill the needed sanitizer.
There are many ways to enjoy Iron Fish Distillery and help support us. You can find Iron Fish spirits where you live by using this Iron Fish Spirit Finder link: https://ironfishdistillery.com/buy/. Or to purchase gear online:
https://store.ironfishdistillery.com/
We are confident our community and the Iron Fish family will persevere through this collective crisis. We sincerely appreciate your support and patience as we navigate these uncharted waters.
*We are currently compiling order requests to assess sanitizer availability. If you are interested in purchasing hand sanitizer, please fill in this form https://forms.gle/zUJ9vC64ZnPYjhrJA – After you fill out this order request, we will contact you to confirm availability, process your order and confirm the date for pick up.
If you have any questions, please reach out. Info@ironfishdistillery.com
Cheers,
David Heidi Richard Sarah