Feni might be a heritage drink in the state, but the sad
truth is that Goans no longer consume it in large quantities.
It just isn’t cool. And this change in drinking habits
is not only restricting the sale of feni, but in the long
run, it could disappear from bar counters in the State.
In the normal course, heritage drinks ought to be popular with
the people. In Goa it is exactly the opposite. Taste, odour and
alcohol content have something to do with it.
Cashew feni in particular, has an odour that lingers up to
the point where it becomes uncomfortable. And if the vast majority
of Goans have a problem imbibing feni, it is not difficult
to imagine how domestic tourists and foreigners would react.
There isn’t a doubt that the drink needs to be standardized and
in a manner that will re-ignite Goa’s romance with it.
Although efforts were being made to standardize the drink,
the real big push came from the Food Safety and Standards
Authority of India (FSSAI) which ruled that anything entering
the human body is classified as
food and that would include liquor.
Hence, the mad rush to clean up
feni for consumption and hopefully,
to standardize it. Feni is distilled
in a variety of ways. The traditional
method involves crushing cashew
apples with one’s bare feet in a
granite pit. Concrete has replaced
granite and the result is contamination.
The big players are backing
use of stainless steel machines to
extract the juice, but is this fair to
the small players? The big players
are also of the opinion that copper coils should be used to distill
the fermented juice. They have also recommended that the
juice should be collected in a pit lined with ceramic tiles. One
of the suggestions is that the alcohol content should be within
37.1 per cent and 42.8 per cent. All this will eventually result
in uniformity of the feni produced in the State provided the
norms are agreed upon and enforced by FDA.
While the new norms will eventually result in standardization,
the major issue facing manufacturers, large and small, is
social acceptability of the drink. The tag of heritage drink accorded
to feni is a nostalgic throw-back to the days when it was
very popular and reflects the hope that will regain its place
in culture. The easy availability of IMFL and imported liquors
which have a cool quotient with consumers has relegated feni
to the back of the liquor queue. Manufacturers of the drink will
have to think of ways to increase consumption, with or without
the odour, or all the energy expended in standardizing it
will go up in smoke.
