BC’s distilleries, which focused on the production of hand sanitizers during the COVID-19 pandemic, are now being ordered to stop.
Clay Potter, co-owner of The Moon Under Water Brewery, Pub and Distillery in Victoria, says his team started making hand sanitizer when the need was huge and supplies uncertain.
“We have all the equipment in place, it took some trial and error to learn how to do it right and test it,” said Potter, who is also a brewery brewer.
He said he had invested in ingredients such as glycerin and other disinfectant materials and planned to continue producing alcohol-based disinfectants. But he received an e-mail notification on April 7th and a subsequent letter from the province a few days later stating that all disinfectant production should stop by May 8th. All other stocks must be sold or donated by November.
Distillers say there is no need for a firm deadline to halt disinfectant production and feel betrayed after stepping up for the public good during the pandemic.
The Moon Under Water Brewery and Distillery was one of a dozen BC distilleries that began producing disinfectants at the start of the pandemic. (CBC News / Janella Hamilton)
“It’s kind of like another barrier for us. I still have about a dozen four-liter jugs and then I have a lot of spoiled alcohol in the back just waiting to be distilled,” he said, adding that he would do as much disinfectant as possible before the deadline.
The production of hand sanitizers received a temporary permit from the BC Alcohol and Cannabis Regulation Branch in March 2020, the first days of the pandemic.
“It’s not a big profit for us, but it helps. When the pubs were closed and our salon was closed, we had a lot of beer that was old and we still haven’t fully recovered,” Potter said. “Instead of throwing it away, we distill it into a disinfectant.”
Distilleries are due to sell the residual disinfectant
Tyler Dyke is president of the Craft Distillers Guild in British Columbia and owner of the Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery in Kelowna and Vernon. He said setting up distilleries on time added unnecessary stress to an industry that was already hit hard during the pandemic.
“A lot of these distilleries who cut off their whole hands to help support their communities in times of need not only didn’t get any help for it, but they actually pay double for it because they have this product that it can help them recoup some of those costs. “
Tyler Dyke, center, says his family business has donated $ 750,000 in disinfectant to hospitals and front-line workers. (Tyler Dyke)
His family business still has thousands of disinfectant bottles that they plan to donate to women’s shelters and health workers.
“This product can’t be used for anything else. So if distillers don’t sell it by November, they should generally throw it down the drain,” he said.
In a statement to CBC News, the Ministry of Public Security and the Attorney General said the temporary permit was “a temporary measure designed to address the shortage of hand sanitizer at the start of the pandemic.” The move to halt the production of disinfectants is now in line with the mandates of the provincial lifting masks and the requirements of the vaccine card, it said.
Distillers feel neglected by the government
At the start of the pandemic, the prime minister called on Canadian industry to help produce protective supplies that were difficult to find. At the height of the shortage, about a dozen distilleries in British Columbia supplied hospitals, government offices and emergency workers throughout the province and produced tens of thousands of liters for free.
Dyke says that during this time, the federal government has spent hundreds of millions of tax dollars on disinfectants outside of Canada. As the market was flooded with imported, foreign disinfectants, some distilleries in BC were left with stocks that they could not sell now.
Okangan Spirits Craft Distillery still has thousands of disinfectant bottles that it plans to donate to women’s shelters and front-line workers. (Tyler Dyke)
“After all this, provincial and federal governments are going out and buying cheap, internationally made hand sanitizers and bypassing those who have turned their backs on them,” Dyke said. “It’s not just saying something. It’s a slap in the face.”
Dyke said the latest announcement from the BC Alcohol and Cannabis Regulatory Branch was like putting salt in the wounds of distillers who were bleeding money due to COVID-19 restrictions, but still incurred huge initial costs of making a disinfectant.
“Looking back, many businesses have found themselves in a very difficult financial situation, doing the right thing for their communities, and they would do it again. Don’t get me wrong … They may have cut it, not produced that much, “Potter said.
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