Public wastes little time to swoop up locally produced hand sanitizer

A collaboration between Stumbletown Distilling and Lucky Bastard Distillers had people lining up around the block Friday in Saskatoon.

However, no one was lining up for some of their notable batches of vodka or gin. It was a limited supply of hand sanitizer that gathered the crowd.

“Everyone that got here said that Circle Drive was backed up, and you couldn’t even get on to Quebec Avenue let alone into the parking lot,” Stumbletown owner Craig Holland said. “It’s crazy.”

“It started off slow, then when people started coming they haven’t stopped.”

Last week, the two Saskatoon-based companies announced a partnership to retool production and meet the growing demand for hand sanitizer while helping fight the spread of COVID-19. Later in the week, bottles were sent to frontline emergency workers. Friday was the first chance the general public had to snag a bottle of free sanitizer.

Holland said roughly 6,000 litres of hand sanitizer has been bottled. He had 600 bottles at his location on Quebec Ave on Friday, while Lucky Bastard had its own giveaway at its location on 47th Street.

The large crowds didn’t start arriving at Stumbletown until after Lucky Bastard had completely run out, which took approximately 90 minutes.

By 2:30 p.m., only a few cases remained and Holland was sure there would be none available by the end of the day.

“I did not think that getting into the alcohol manufacturing  business would create a hand sanitizer frenzy for me,” Holland said of the three hours of non-stop traffic.

“It’s been pretty wild.”

Trying to adapt and change to new information and guidelines from provincial and federal governments has been a challenge, but Holland knows that if the two companies keep making hand sanitizer, it will be swept up instantly.

“Nobody can get their hands on it right now. Big companies are looking for it, too,” he said.

“We’re going to keep doing it as long as we can.”

Blue Cross and two other unspecified local companies donated supplies to keep productions costs as low as possible since the venture is not for profit. Finding couriers to distribute product across the province, especially to more remote areas in northern Saskatchewan, has been another hurdle for Stumbletown.

As Holland stared out the window to see semi trucks, vans and cars quickly pull over, run inside and grab a bottle, he was just happy he reached out to his friends at Lucky Bastard less than two weeks ago.

“Right away they suggested that we work together on it,” Holland said. “That was the best decision for us. (Lucky Bastard) has a lot more man power, and it’s a little easier to facilitate it from their headquarters.”

“A lot of happy people in here today to get their hands on a bottle of hand sanitizer, so that’s great to see.”