Brad Ransom, with head lamp, is head of production, and Kevin Bascom, distiller for Nauti Spirits in Cape May, New Jersey. Normally they produce gin, vodka and rum but since March they’ve been producing hand sanitizer to donate first responders and local facilities, plus selling it to local NJ companies and individuals at a rate well below market costs. We closed our doors to the public on March 15, 2020. March 19, 2020 - started the process to produce hand sanitizer in partnership with Partners Pharmacy.  March 25, 2020 started the donations to 1st responders and local healthcare facilities.  March 29, 2020 started selling hand sanitizer to the public via online orders and drive up pick up.  Quote:  "It takes a village, not just to raise a baby, but surviving a pandemic too. By each of us doing our part, [Staying home, posting memes, stocking shelves, selling goods, driving trucks, 1st responders, healthcare workers, making masks, or making hand sanitizer!] we will get through this together and come out stronger and better than ever." How did Nauti Spirits Distillery come up with the idea to make hand sanitizer? Why? A few weeks ago we saw that stores were running out of sanitizer and isopropyl alcohol.  Then, we heard about how people were buying and hoarding things, including sanitizer, which people needed given the growing crisis.  Among others, first responders and those in nursing homes were having real problems getting this basic item.  Knowing that ethyl alcohol is just as effective at killing bacteria, we started looking at whether we could meet a need by legally producing sanitizer with high-proof ethanol that we distill.  We couldn't under our current federal and state permits, so we started making calls to the TTB, our federal regulator, and to the ABC to ask how we could help meet this need.  A week ago, on Wednesday morning, a friend who is a professional pharmacist and an executive VP at Partners Pharmacy, which provides pharmacy services for assisted living facilities, called and asked if we had any ethanol that he could buy to make sanitizer for his patients.  That afternoon is when the TTB granted distilleries with our type of license the temporary authorization to make hand sanitizer with ethanol.  So, we started immediately teaming together to make sanitizer in order to meet the need, which by that time had become chronic. How is the hand sanitizer made, like tell me about the process you use and what role Nauti Spirits plays in making the hand sanitizer since Partners Pharmacy is compounding it.   Partners Pharmacy compounded the first batch, and then has overseen/directed our distillers in compounding the sanitizer at the distillery.  It is made by taking very high (190) proof (95%) ethanol that we had distilled over the last several months from corn and sweet potatoes that we had grown on our land and which we normally would use to make our vodka, and adding to it distilled water, hydrogen peroxide, propylene glycol, tea tree oil, and vitamin E oil, with the resulting solution being 80% ethanol, the highest leval allowed, which also provides the best antiseptic defense.  We then label and bottle this by hand in 8 oz., 32 oz. and 5 gal. containers.  In addition to the professional pharmacist guidance, Partners Pharmacy has provided additives and 8,000 very hard to come by (and now nearly gone due to outrageous demand) 2 oz. spray bottles in which we put much of the initial batches. Is your hand sanitizer FDA approved? How does it get FDA approved? Who is responsible for ensuring that the hand sanitizer is FDA approved? The FDA does not "approve" the sanitizer; it approves the guidelines for its manufacture.  We and Partners Pharmacy compound the hand sanitizer pursuant to the FDA's published recommendations and guidelines.  Both Partners Pharmacy and Nauti Spirits are responsible for ensuring that the sanitizer meets these FDA recommendations/guidelines. Who is Nauti Spirits distributing and selling the hand sanitizer to?   We and Partners Pharmacy have donated several hundreds of gallons of the product to first responders in Cape May County, and to elder care and professional nursing facilities around the country.  We also are selling the sanitizer to end users (no resellers) in order to recover some of our costs.  Our prices are near pre-COVID-19 levels, and we aim to keep them that low for as long as there is a need for the product. Who is Nauti Spirits making the hand sanitizer for? Who needs hand sanitizer the most right now?   Initially, we wanted to get the hand sanitizer to some of those who needed it the most -- first responders and people in assisted living facilities.  These foks still desparately need the sanitizer, but others need it too, like postal workers, home delivery personnel, restaurant workers who facilitate curbside and takeout orders, people in essential businesses, shoppers; literally everyone who doesn't have ready access to soap and water every time their hands may come into contact with infected surfaces. How long will Nauti Spirits be manufacturing hand sanitizer for?   Until there is no longer a need for it, or until we have to shut our doors permanently because we can no longer afford to keep the lights on.  We would like nothing better than to go back to making--and selling--artisan farm spirits, rather than hand sanitizer. But, hand sanitizer is the need; great spirits are a desire.  Desire takes a back seat these days. Where is the hand sanitizer being sold and/or given out to people? How much does it cost to buy? How is it sold, like how big are the bottles? Are the bottles sold individually or in groups?   We have been selling the hand sanitizer from the distillery, as we do not have the personnel or funds to deliver it.  That said, for larger orders (5 gal or more), we will arrange delivery through authorized shippers. The 2 oz. spray bottle is sold by itself for $2.00 (due to the high price of the bottle, and limit 2 per customer), the 8 oz. bottles sell for $7, the 32 oz bottles sell for $17, and a 5 gal sealed bucket can be filled for $320 (or we'll provide the bucket and lid for $12).  The larger bottles can be used to fill smaller bottles that folks have around the house or office/business.  We will not allow anyone to buy in bulk in order to resell (to avoid hoarding and price gouging). How many employees are allowed in the distillery at a time while the hand sanitizer is being made?   We haven't had much of a problem with this, as we only have four employees remaining on payroll.  With volunteers, however, we like to keep the number at no more than six at any one time.  The distillery space is actually quite large.