Corona economy in action: hand gel from Dior, Filliers and BrewDog

Now that ‘normal’ life is at a standstill, a real corona industry is emerging: distilleries, breweries and perfume makers are switching to the production of disinfectant alcohol. Even LVHM is replacing perfume bottles with hand gel.

From drinkable to disinfectant alcohol

Given the overwhelming demand for disinfectant hand gel, and now that pubs are not allowed to open anyway, more and more distilleries and breweries are using their manufacturing resources for the production of disinfectant alcohol. Belgian distilleries like Stokerij Rubbens, De Moor and Filliers followed the request of Minister of Finance Alexander De Croo, who has relaxed the licensing rules to allow the distillation of rubbing alcohol.

The Belgians are not the only ones who are stepping up for the medical sector: Great Britain, among other countries, has various distilleries and gin producers who have started producing hand sanitisers. Most donate their production free of charge or at cost price to the health care sector or people in need. Similarly, alternative brewery BrewDog released a its own hand gel called Punk Sanitiser, to give to whoever needs it. 

Even French luxury group LVMH is showing its solidarity: it has temporarily discontinued the production of perfumes and cosmetics, such as those of Givenchy and Dior, in three of its French factories to make hand gels. These are distributed free of charge to the health services, initially to the 39 public hospitals in Paris. Immediately after the announcement on Sunday, LVMH expects to be able to supply twelve tons of disinfectant gel this week.