How India’s Irrational Liquor Laws Stop Our Own Fennys And Toddys From Becoming World Brands

As reported in the Mint, United Kingdom-based spirits maker William Grant & Sons (the makers of Glenfiddich) is aiming to occupy 30 percent of the Indian single malt Scotch whisky market. The timeline they have set for this is six to seven years, during which they plan to offer more products and expand their reach.

As India becomes increasingly connected globally, Indians thirst for better quality drinks. India is already one of the world’s largest whisky markets.

Strangely, whisky, which is now a luxury item for many elites in India, was once produced by an unorganised and illegal family activity of distilling. Huge investments in marketing coupled with quality production facilities have brought about this change.

Like it has in the past, India would have contributed to this market through its indigenous products, but as is the case with other things, here also we have faulty policies and corrupt politics to thank.

First, the feni (or fenny) industry is “unorganized, small and family owned, home run, with low levels of education. The processes and technology are traditional with little or no investment in research and training. Businesses are self-financed. The branded segment is tiny with most of the produce geared for consumption in bars.”

Second, and this takes the cake, feni cannot be sold outside Goa. Imagine the Scots saying Scotch Whisky cannot be sold outside Scotland. Yet, this is precisely the legal situation today when it comes to feni. The famous Goan drink is classified as a country liquor and, by law, cannot be sold outside Goa. A similar fate has befallen toddy in many states.

Consider what happens in Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu government has a monopoly over alcohol retailing - it runs hundreds of bars and liquor stores across the state. But it bans ordinary citizens from doing the same with the pretext of morality. Tax-paying farmers cannot tap toddy in their own farms, nor can they sell the same.

The Scots meanwhile are making a killing. One wonders what would have been the state of the Indian liquor market had we allowed market forces to promote the production of local drinks instead of curtailing them. Maybe, just maybe, Europe would have become a booming market for toddy and feni.