LOCKDOWN LEADER: Conker Spirit

UK Gin maker Conker Spirit is turning its surplus gin into alcohol for use in hand sanitisers. The process will ensure that care workers receive the vital cleansing agent during the global pandemic. 

So far the Bournemouth-based distillery has produced 100 bottles of its Community Spirit Hand Sanitiser, from 100 litres of the waste product. When spirits are produced, the first part which comes over the still doesn’t go into the bottle – but it’s also the most volatile part of the alcohol. “For a long time, we’ve been keeping that and not really had a use for it,” Conker Spirit’s head distiller and founder Rupert Holloway told the press. To make the sanitiser, that part of the alcohol is blended with the thickening agent xanthan gum, and the result smells of juniper.

The first 70cl and 30cl bottles, containing 60 per cent ethanol, were distributed to struggling, independent hospitality businesses; wine shops, bars and restaurants. “We thought, half our product goes into independent bars and shops and delis,” said Holloway. “They’re going to be in some very troubled waters in the next two to three months – as are we, if I’m honest.” 

But, as Holloway, who was previously a chartered surveyor before entering the drinks trade says, “It felt like something we had to do. We’re sitting on this stuff and everybody was asking about it. A GP practice has already contacted them asking for the product. “This stuff is needed for people who are in the care sector out and about in the community who can’t wash their hands.”

The company, founded in 2014, and which employs eight people, is making no profit from the sanitiser. HM Revenue & Customs are currently in talks about removing the spirits duty. “We do genuinely feel we have an important part to play in the community,” said Holloway. “If we can do something to help, however small, then I feel we have achieved something.”

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