Australian family-owned agribusiness Manildra Group will expand its distillery to produce an additional 90 million litres of ethanol for pharmaceutical and beverage industries during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company’s seven-column, grain-neutral ethanol distillery is the largest in the country and distils premium ethyl alcohol into a range of grades for food, spirits, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, industrial applications and transport fuels.
Manildra Group managing director John Honan said investment in the distillery will create employment opportunities during and after the expansion.
“This investment will provide more than one hundred jobs during construction as well as provide additional ongoing employment opportunities at Manildra Group’s ethanol plant. This further investment will provide a much-needed boost to the community of Nowra and the NSW economy,” said Honan.
“We’ve been operating our world-class distillery round-the-clock to increase production of pharmaceutical-grade ethanol, the active ingredient in hand sanitisers and surface disinfectants. The use of these products has skyrocketed as a result of coronavirus.”
“This includes in the frontline fight by NSW health and essential services workers – who we have been able to equip with the hand sanitiser critical to the safety of both patients, workers and communities.'
The company has provided thousands of litres of its Stay Safe sanitiser for delivery to rural, remote and indigenous general practices, as well as other essential health services in need.
Manildra Group ranked at #20 in the Top 100 Australia Food & Drink Companies 2019 report.
