Vista vodka distillery shifts to hand sanitizer to address coronavirus-related shortages

VISTA (CNS) - A Vista vodka distillery has shifted all production from alcoholic beverages to hand sanitizer to address shortages during the coronavirus pandemic.

With patrons no longer allowed at Misadventure & Co.'s distillery or tasting room, and its bar and restaurant doors closed to customers, the North County distillery said it has transitioned to producing hand sanitizer to accommodate nationwide shortages brought on by the COVID-19 outbreak.

"Last week, our business in our Vista distillery and tasting room screeched to a halt. To survive, we needed to change rapidly,'' said

Misadventure Vodka co-founder Whit Rigali. "Because of our still and industry expertise, we were uniquely positioned to pivot and adapt.

"To help meet the public's need in this difficult time, within one week, we were able to produce alcohol for hand sanitizer, bottle it, build a retail website, and ship out over 20,000 bottles of sanitizer to both consumers and wholesalers," Rigali said.

Misadventure's website now features 2-ounce, 4-ounce and 8-ounce spray bottles for sale, and the company says it is taking online orders and shipping sanitizer and other products nationally.

A statement from the distillery says that in addition to helping the nation address hand sanitizer shortages, the move will help keep the four-person business keep from shutting down entirely and being forced to lay off employees.

The company said it has donated some of its products to nonprofits like the Oceanside Kitchen Collaborative, Produce Good and the United States Bartenders Guild, while also sending out large orders to clinics, hospitals, veterans' groups and local governments.