Diageo expands neutral spirit donation to Southeast Asia

Drinks giant Diageo has pledged to donate neutral spirit in support of efforts in Southeast Asia to tackle Covid-19.

In an announcement in late March, Diageo said it would donate neutral grain spirit to countries where the company has major distilling operations, namely the UK, Ireland, Italy, the US, Brazil, Kenya, India and Australia.

The amount of spirit being donated would enable the production of 8 million bottles of hand sanitiser for frontline medical workers.

Recently, Diageo Southeast Asia was added to the effort and will be donating 60,000 litres of neutral spirit to governments and local manufacturers in the Philippines, Vietnam and Myanmar.

It is hoped that the donation, which will allow the production of over a million bottles of sanitiser or disinfecting agents, can help overcome shortages in their healthcare systems.

Apurvi Sheth, managing director, Southeast Asia, Diageo said: “As Southeast Asia steps up its efforts to stop the tide of infections, Diageo hopes to do what we can to help communities here and assist in the disinfection of hospitals and other environments to help keep our invaluable front-line workers safe across Southeast Asia”.