GENEVA and MANOSQUE, France, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The L'OCCITANE Group, a pioneer in beauty and well-being products using natural ingredients, has decided to reassign some of its facilities to manufacture 70,000 litres of hand sanitiser. These products will be donated to the health authorities and healthcare workers in France.
In addition, the Group will distribute 25,000 units of soap and hand cream to staff of Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP - the Paris university hospital trust). This is part of its efforts to support healthcare workers fighting the epidemic across the countries in which it operates.
Large-scale production of hand sanitiser
In response to the rapid increase in the number of coronavirus cases in France, some of the facilities in Manosque (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) that manufacture beauty and well-being products for the L'OCCITANE en Provence and Melvita brands have been reassigned to the production of verbena-scented hand sanitiser.
The first 10,000 300ml bottles of hand sanitiser are being shipped today. By the end of the week, 50,000 300ml bottles, containing 15,000 litres of disinfectant, will have been manufactured. They will be used by healthcare services, firefighters and hospitals, including AP-HP. The Group plans to scale up production to some 70,000 litres. The L'OCCITANE Group thanks its partners who have helped make hand sanitiser production possible, and in particular Distilleries et Domaines de Provence, which provided 16,000 litres of alcohol.
Support for healthcare workers in Asia and Europe
- Since February, the Chinese subsidiary of the L'OCCITANE Group has been assisting doctors by donating more than 20,000 units of moisturising lotion and shea butter hand cream to hospital workers in Wuhan and Shanghai to help those suffering from skin lesions due to prolonged use of protective clothing.
- This assistance was echoed in Korea with the donation of 20,000 units of intensive hand balm and shea butter milk soap to the Korean national medical association.
- In the United Kingdom, L'OCCITANE en Provence gave hand care products to those working in the country's public healthcare system (National Health Service - NHS).
- French subsidiary Laboratoires M&L donated hand sanitiser to firefighters in the departments of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Bouches-du-Rhône as well as to the hospitals managed by the Manosque Hospital Centre. It also donated soap to the Saint Barthélemy nursing home in Marseille, which cares for dependent elderly persons in need. The production facility in Ardèche also supplied masks, aprons, gloves and sanitiser to the local health services.
- The Group's other French subsidiary, M&L Distribution, donated 25,000 units of soap and hand cream to AP-HP staff.
Reinold Geiger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the L'OCCITANE Group, commented: 'The L'OCCITANE Group began responding to the COVID-19 epidemic in February by donating moisturising lotion and hand cream to hospital staff in Wuhan and Shanghai. Now that the crisis is battering Europe, we are extending that support to European healthcare workers, whose work and commitment are admirable. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Group's staff, who are working hard to produce hand sanitiser for them to use while also maintaining our regular operations. Humankind is undergoing a time filled with challenges. By pooling our efforts with a full measure of humility, we can help it to overcome them.'
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