- Title: Brazil beer brewery turning its alcohol into sanitizer to help coronavirus fight
- Date: 25th March 2020
- Summary: SAO PAULO, BRAZIL (MARCH 25, 2020) (REUTERS) VARIOUS, BOTTLES OF HAND SANITIZER BEING PRODUCED IN BEER BREWERY VARIOUS, BOTTLES ON CONVEYOR BELT (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) AMBEV VICE PRESIDENT OF CORPORATE RELATIONS, CARLA CRIPPA, SAYING: "The idea of making (hand) sanitizer gel arose from Ambev's desire to help in a time of great need, so we looked inside our own house. How can we provide this help? And, we saw that it was possible to take the alcohol in our beers, use the bottles we use for our soft drinks, and produce the sanitizer gel, which is so lacking at the moment and is so important to clean people's hands and protects them in this situation " VARIOUS, MACHINERY AT PLANT (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) AMBEV VICE PRESIDENT OF CORPORATE RELATIONS, CARLA CRIPPA, SAYING: "Not every brewery can produce sanitizer gel. For us to produce this, we need equipment that takes the alcohol from the beer and leaves it in the condition, in the appropriate concentrations, so that it can be transformed into a gel and bottled in the bottles that will then be delivered to the public." VARIOUS, QUALITY CONTROL SPECIALIST, FAUSTA DA MARCIA, TESTING PH LEVELS (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) QUALITY CONTROL SPECIALIST, FAUSTA DA MARCIA, SAYING: "For us it was very gratifying to know that we could use cereal alcohol, to distillate part of it, and for a brewery to be put to use for the good of the population, transforming it into sanitizer gel " VARIOUS, PLANT WORKERS WITH EMPTY BOTTLES VARIOUS, PLANT WORKERS WITH BOTTLE CAPS VARIOUS, BOTTLES ON CONVEYOR BELT WORKERS PACKING BOTTLES IN BOXES PIRAI, RIO DE JANEIRO STATE, BRAZIL (MARCH 23, 2020) (REUTERS) VARIOUS, AERIAL SHOTS TAKEN BY DRONE OF AMBEV PLANT (MUTE) (SOUNDBITE) (PORTUGUESE) AMBEV ALCOHOL GRINDING OPERATOR, ANDRE MARCELINO SILVA, SAYING: "I'm really proud to be a part of this team that is taking the lead trying to help people who are suffering from this virus that is plaguing our country." VARIOUS, BEER CANS AT BREWERY VARIOUS, SODA CANS AT PLANT SLOW MOTION OF SODA CANS
- Embargoed: 8th April 2020 22:59
- Keywords: Ambev Brazil alchohol beer bottles brewery convert coronavirus hand plant sanitizer
- Location: SAO PAULO & PIRAI, RIO DE JANEIRO STATE, BRAZIL
- City: SAO PAULO & PIRAI, RIO DE JANEIRO STATE, BRAZIL
- Country: Brazil
- Topics: Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA001C6JYHJB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: With alcohol gel supplies increasingly scarce and needed more than ever, Brazilian beer brewer Ambev SA has converted one of its breweries to produce half a million sanitizer bottles for public hospitals to fight the spread of coronavirus.
Ambev SA, the local subsidiary of Anheuser Busch InBev, said in a statement released last week that it plans to deliver 5,000 sanitizer gel bottles to every public hospital in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia, where most of the country's coronavirus cases are concentrated.
The move is part of global trend of private sector firms stepping up to help in the battle against COVID-19, which has decimated markets and pushed governments to take extreme measures to try and control the outbreak.
Ambev said the 500,000 units will be packaged in bottles like the ones used for soft drinks, and the alcohol will come from the production of its Brahma local beer and other brands at one of its breweries in Rio de Janeiro state.
Brazil, Latin America's largest nation, reported 2,433 confirmed coronavirus cases on Wednesday (March 25), up from 2,201 the day before.
(Production: Leonardo Benassatto) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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