Birmingham Rises: Redmont Distilling

Pay it forward. This may sound like a simple phrase, but to Redmont Distilling Company it’s a part of who they are. Proudly located in Birmingham, Redmont Distilling focuses on being there for the community, through both the good and challenging times. Almost all industries have been hit hard by COVID-19, but with yearly sales down nearly 80%, the restaurant and hospitality industry and workers felt the pandemic more than most. Though affected themselves, Redmont Distilling chose this moment to step in and support local businesses and workers; the only way through this is together.

Redmont distilling helped found a relief fund to aid Alabama hospitality workers affected by the pandemic.

After needing to close their doors, many businesses were forced to rethink their current strategy and brainstorm solutions to survive; many pivoting to curbside pickup, delivery, and selling more gift cards to stay afloat. Understanding this challenge, Redmont Distilling chose to partner with the Alabama Restaurant and Hospitality Association to provide resources for hospitality workers affected by these sudden changes.

Together they launched the Alabama Hospitality Workers Relief Fund, which focuses on giving financial assistance to hospitality workers facing financial hardship. This collaborative fund was built to help workers with a variety of expenses such as rent, mortgage, or transportation, as well as utilities and funeral expenses (including travel). Collectively, the relief fund raised over $100,000, including a personal donation of $25,000 from Charles Barkley, Redmont Distilling’s majority owner and Alabama native. The support didn’t stop there. It’s challenging to close your doors, but it’s also challenging to open back up after months of slow sales. Redmont Distilling participated in the discount program organized by AL ABC and has offered Redmont Vodka at a 25% discount to all restaurants for June, July and August to help ease the challenge of reopening. So far, many Alabama restaurants and bars have advantage of this offer to ease into filling their businesses again.

In addition to supporting industry employees and business owners, Redmont Distilling identified another opportunity to support the larger Birmingham community. Since the beginning of COVID-19, hand sanitizer began disappearing off store shelves, creating a large gap in the market for desperate consumers. Understanding this challenge, Redmont Distilling was in a special position to serve others by pivoting distilling equipment to produce hand sanitizer in addition to Redmont Vodka.

Redmont hand sanitizer is available at redmontdistilling.com.

Being able to quickly act and serve its community is nothing new to Redmont. The pandemic allowed the company to join a movement that truly reflects the core value of paying it forward. Redmont Distilling hand sanitizer has been donated to hospitals, restaurants and local stores to aid in a safe reopening. The hand sanitizer is also available for purchase and pick up at redmontdistilling.com.

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