Goa’s famous feni, a cashew fruit-based alcoholic beverage, may soon find its way to the shelves of overseas liquor stores, with the Indian government encouraging the industry to adopt international standards and streamline supply chains. The government is also working to formalize the production of mahua—another of India’s oldest indigenous liquors—made by fermenting flowers and found commonly in central India. Brigade Group™ Flash Sale 2023, 2 & 3 BHK starts @ 62.80 L* Brigade Group | Sponsored 2.5 & 3 BHK Skydeck Residencies, Shapoorji Parkwest Shapoorji Pallonji | Sponsored Data Science Career Abroad - Free Live Masterclass Scaler Data Science | Sponsored New Launch 3 BHK Apartments from 1.56 Cr* Onwards, East Bangalore Assetz | Sponsored The University of Western Australia Global MBA UWA Global MBA Programme | Sponsored My Husband Abandoned Me In Fear Of Affording My Treatment. Ketto | Sponsored Canada is looking for skilled workers like you! ImmigCanada | Sponsored Bangalore: The price (& size) of these hearing aids might surprise you Hear.com | Sponsored by Taboola The standards pertain to bottling, packaging and processing, in line with international norms. While cashew feni won geographical indication (GI) in 2009, that for mahua is in the pre-examination stage. Securing GI—a distinctive sign used to identify a product whose quality, reputation or other characteristics related to its geographical origin—will help give it a distinct identity in the overseas markets. The GI tag ensures that no one other than those registered as authorized producers can use the popular product name. Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), the nodal agri-export promotion body, is working with the Indian alcoholic beverage associations to discuss challenges and how to encourage exports of India’s indigenous liquor. “We are focusing on the identified GI products that have the potential and the established supply chain. We are now promoting them. It is also the case for indigenous liquor, like feni. These will be promoted as a premium segment, which is unique to India, where there is an established supply chain, and there are volumes," said Tarun Bajaj, director of APEDA. This comes at a time India is negotiating a relaxation of the three-year maturity norms to facilitate better access to Indian whisky in the UK and Australia. SIMILAR STORIES Karnataka to get India's 1st Marina to promote coastal touris... Karnataka to get India's 1st Marina to promote coastal touris... Watch | South Korean embassy staff shake legs to ‘Naatu Naatu... Watch | South Korean embassy staff shake legs to ‘Naatu Naatu... GCC to appoint negotiator for talks with India GCC to appoint negotiator for talks with India Former Nepal PM Oli's party CPN-UML withdraws support to Prac... Former Nepal PM Oli's party CPN-UML withdraws support to Prac... Mann Ki Baat: PM Modi to address 98th episode today; check ti... Mann Ki Baat: PM Modi to address 98th episode today; check ti... World’s longest river cruise ‘MV Ganga Vilas’ to culminate jo... World’s longest river cruise ‘MV Ganga Vilas’ to culminate jo... Lessons for free speech from the Pawan Khera arrestPREMIUM Lessons for free speech from the Pawan Khera arrest Ireda to set up office in Gujarat’s GIFT City to finance rene... Ireda to set up office in Gujarat’s GIFT City to finance rene... “Government bodies like APEDA are working on ways to spot export opportunities for indigenous products. Products such as feni and mahua are being looked into. Indian craft gin and Indian single malt have export potential as they carry the Indian provenance… the problem is that many manufacturers operate on a small scale. If we wish to have true export potential to the developed world, we need to bring standards and make the products more uniform," said Vinod Giri, director general of the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies. Giri added that small manufacturers must prepare a road map and look into where the government can come in and where investment is needed. India’s craft gin is being shipped already, with about 15,000 cases exported to the UK this year, Giri said. “The one where we need support is for feni from Goa. The second promising product is mahua. Mahua grows in tribal areas such as Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh, and liquor is brewed from that, he said. A Goan government report, titled ‘Roadmap for Feni’, recommended granting GI for coconut feni. Queries emailed to the spokesperson for the ministry of commerce and industry remained unanswered till press time. India exported 247,000 tonnes of alcoholic products, worth $322.12 million (approximately ₹2,507 crore), during 2020-21, and the major export destinations of Indian alcoholic products include the United Arab Emirates, Ghana, Singapore, Congo and Cameroon. Giri added that during the discussion with APEDA, the association highlighted the need for better quality, standardization and certification to make the products good enough for export. “Then, we need to see how we get the producers to start scaling up now. That may happen either through investment support from the government. Or more likely and easier is by getting the organized sector more involved in this," said Giri. “We shouldn’t export sub-standard products and ruin the reputation of Indian products," he added. According to the government, demand for India’s products such as beer made from malt, wine, white wine, brandy, whisky, rum and gin has increased manifold in the global market.