MARTIGNY (Switzerland): A Swiss distillery has converted its production of pear schnapps to make disinfectant hand gel for use against the coronavirus.

Morand Distillery, a family-run business founded in 1889 in Martigny in the Valais canton, is using up its stocks of “Poire Williams”, a colourless spirit made from pears grown in orchards below the snow-capped mountains.

In normal times, it is a favourite apres-ski tipple, but restrictions on travel and gatherings have hit demand, and now, like many distilleries around the world, Morand has lent their supplies to help stem the Alpine nation’s rush for sanitiser. Half the factory’s 50 staff have already been laid off.

“For better or worse, we had stocks of Poire Williams that are slightly aging. That allows us to use it to make disinfectant,” Thierry Manta, in charge of production at Morand, said on Wednesday.

Published in Dawn, April 2nd, 2020