Let’s make feni a drink to be proud of

It is ironic that at the time the entire alcohol business in Goa is in turmoil over the proposed closure of alcohol vending business along highways and within 500 metres of highways, the Excise Department that is undertaking a survey of outlets it has licenced to stop their businesses is also looking at ways to promote the feni business in Goa. After years of neglect, feni got Geographical Indication (GI) in 2009, when there was hope that it would change the way the world sees feni. It didn’t happen and the journey from the GI to the day when the State government bestowed upon it the heritage tag was long. The heritage tag was necessary, as feni that was classified as country liquor could not legally be sold outside the State. The law is such that brews that are classified as country liquor can be sold only within the borders of that particular state. 

As so it was with feni until it was given the heritage tag in August last year when the government amended the Excise Act to give feni its new title. The bill when introduced in the Assembly was meant to separately define ‘feni’ and establish its ‘unique and well deserving status’ by declaring the liquor as the “Heritage Spirit of Goa”. It had spoken of feni’s multi-faceted use in cultural traditions, cuisines, medical purpose and others which are synonymous to Goan identity. The government said the objective of the amendment is to reach out the Geographical Indications (GI) to the primary and traditional stakeholders. It was also meant to enable trade in world markets positioning it on an equal footing with Scotch whisky and tequila. Feni didn’t benefit much from getting a GI status, as the other processes were not in place. 

If feni is to make its way to the shelves of liquor stores across the world, standing next to bottles of scotch and tequila, it is only natural that there should be a policy that will take the local brew to that level in the global market, where it can actually compete with these liquors. There’s a long way to go to it still, as before reaching out to the global market, the feni distillers and bottlers in Goa will first have to come to an understating and acceptance on the standardisation process in its distilling and also its alcohol content. That won’t be easy as the industry is largely unorganised in the State, with just a few companies producing the drink on a large commercial basis and selling it as a branded product, with much of the distillers still making it on the small scale and for very local consumption.

Against that background, the Excise Commissioner’s statement that “When we call feni a heritage drink, it should carry certain strength, standard and quality,” cannot be ignored. Today, there is little control on the feni distilling industry with hundreds of small distillers producing the brew and selling it locally to neighbourhood stores, taverns and bars, or to selected customers who are feni connoisseurs and can tell a good drink from an average one by even just a sniff.

The feni industry needs to be revamped, it needs to be given some new direction, and that is what the institution that bags the deal to advise the government on promoting feni should aim to do. The policy that the government comes up with should be such that through it feni can grow to become a product that every Goan, whether he sips it or not, can be proud of, a drink that can truly and thoroughly be called Goan, and not just made in Goa.