Hande has been created and brought to market in just two weeks by a multi-disciplinary team following the onset of the COVID-19 crisis and the national shortage of hand sanitiser. The UK has seen a particularly significant scarcity of 65% ethanol sanitiser, the minimum level to satisfy WHO guidelines, with retailers remaining critically low on stock both online and in-store.
With an initial production run of 2000 litres, Hande is now available on www.hande.co.uk. Hande intends to continue rolling out nationwide as it scales up production.
The new company will bring much needed jobs to the Peckham area, initially focused on providing living wage employment for those who have found themselves without work because of the ongoing crisis. Hande will guarantee the living wage for all its staff.
Designed to be fully sustainable, Hande comes in refillable glass bottles and is free from any single-use plastics. It will be sold in individual 50ml bottles, as well as family packs of four small refillable bottles and one large 500ml bottle.
Hande is planning to launch further products in the coming months to maintain a secure and happy workforce.
Ben Taylor, co-founder of Hande, said:
The nationwide shortage of alcohol-based hand sanitiser is deeply troubling, particularly for vulnerable groups. We created Hande in collaboration with our friends at Iya in order to add much-needed supply to the market, as well as create new jobs, and help organisations in need of funding. We will be donating around a third of all production to groups in need of alcohol-based hand sanitiser, with an initial focus on local care homes.
The sustainability of the new company is important to us, and Hande’s refillable glass bottles are intended to reduce the plastic waste generated by existing hand santiser brands. We have also worked hard to ensure every ingredient is fully organic. We will continue to ramp up production as demand increases, as well as launch new products in line with our sustainable ethos."
