PANAJI: Leading Feni distillers, Cazcar Heritage Distillery has tied up with the Margao-based, Parvatibai Chowgule College of Arts and Science for a research project on ‘Feni’.
The research project titled “Isolation and characterisation of yeasts from naturally fermented cashew apple juice” will be conducted by microbiologist, Supriya Khorjuvenkar of Chowgule college under the guidance of Dr SB Barbuddhe, director, Indian Council of Agricultural Research in Hyderabad. This research project is wholly funded by the Cazcar Heritage Distillery.
Disclosing the development at a press conference held in Margao on Friday, Gurudatta Bhakta, managing director, Cazcar Heritage Distillery said: “Feni is one of the factors among others for Goa’s identity and many small people are dependent for earnings during the cashew season. With this collaboration we hope to get the required quality from the ‘bhaticars,’ thus catering to the foreign market, getting a better price for the people involved in the trade.”
Also speaking on the occasion, Dr Shaila Ghanti, principal, Parvatibai Chowgule college of Arts and Science said: “This research project is a perfect example of creating a nurturing environment where the industry and the academia can work hand-in-hand. Previously corporates and industry bodies relied mostly on their own research rather than reaching out to academia. As a result of corporate partnerships with academia, our college will have more opportunities to undertake research and to help diversify research areas into design and development of innovative processes and potential products.”
The media release further stated that the Geographical Indication (GI) Certification for Goa was certified in the year 2007 and the government of Goa notified Cashew Feni as a “Heritage Spirit” in the year 2016, thereby upgrading and enhancing the image of Feni.
The Amendment to the Excise Act also clearly defined the road map of Feni to position itself on equal footing to the world famous Scotch Whisky and Tequila through the Notification Series 1, No 19 dated 11th August, 2016.
In 2021, the government of Goa declared the Feni Policy 2021 which proposed various measures and specifications to the establishment of specifications to take the Heritage Spirit, Feni to the world.
The said policy defined yeast as unicellular fungi responsible for fermentation through the naturally occurring yeast present in the cashew apples which will be the base for standardizing Feni for the world market.
Cazcars have pioneered the fermentation technology in association with The Indian Council of Agricultural Research and have therefore been able to enter the American market after intensive quality tests, adds the press communique.
