Goa: To push feni sales, stakeholders want country liquor tag removed

PANAJI: More than a decade after feni got the Geographical Indication (GI) tag, the state’s heritage drink continues to struggle to make its mark outside Goa. Even the Goa government’s efforts to push the sale of feni as a country liquor outside the state have yet to bear fruit.
It has now been over two months since the excise department wrote to five states, but none have responded so far, the officer said.
“When they have their country liquors to promote, why would they want to allow the sale of feni in their state?” a senior officer said on a pragmatic note, indicating that Goa can’t expect any help from these states.
“With excise being a state subject, we will have to lobby and advocate with individual states in tandem with the government,” said Mac Vaz, founder president of the All Goa Cashew Feni Distillers and Bottlers Association.
Vaz said that chairperson of the Goa Forest Development Corporation, Deviya Rane, has shown interest in promoting feni, taking the lead in organising the two-day cashew fest that was held recently.
Founder of Cazulo Premium Feni, Hansel Vaz, said it was not surprising that other states have not shown an interest in feni. “It is very clear that there is no knowledge among the bureaucracy and consumers about feni as a heritage drink,” he said.
If feni is to make a mark outside Goa, it must be popularised and sold as high-end alcohol, said Hansel.
“The government will have to spend some money on popularising feni. If we continue to promote feni the way we do without creating awareness about why the drink is special, it will not fetch a premium price like other brands of alcohol. A bottle of feni will at the most be sold for Rs 500 to Rs 700,” he said.
Pushing the status of feni and not selling it as country liquor is also in the interest of the government as it will earn more revenue by marketing feni as premium alcohol, said Hansel.
The founder of Cazulo Premium Feni said he has started focusing on building his product’s brand for this reason.
More than three years ago, the Goa government consciously labelled feni as a heritage drink to position it differently from country liquor and push its sale outside Goa. But the official nomenclature remains country liquor.
“Why does the excise department still want to promote feni as a country liquor? The government is doing just the opposite of its stated policy by calling feni country liquor,” said a trader from North Goa.