Branding the homemade booze

From the tea shops to the parliament, the topic of branding and marketing of homemade liquor has ignited debates/discussions. In fact, the very topic is not just limited to this.   Some provincial and local governments have even lately brought acts to regulate the production and sales of the said kind of product in a commercial way. 

Such acts, neverheless, fly in the face of the prevailing rules at the central level. The Liquor Act 2031 B.S does not legally recognise the booze brewed in homes and the Supreme Court has also ruled that a family can produce a maximum of only 30 liters of such booze in a year for just cultural practices.

"It is illegal to produce, set and sell homemade liquor and severe punishment can be meted to those involved in this by the court," says Gopal Giri, Tx Officer at the Inland Revenue Department, Pokhara.

On the backing of the said restrictive measures, the police tend to launch campaigns against the alcohol prepared by local people.

"Since domestic liquor is legally prohibited and also sometimes causes deadly health hazards, we conduct operations to search and destroy it whenever needed," states Ajay KC Superintendent of Police, District Police Office, Kaski. 

  On the one side, there is a stark discord between the provincial and federal levels in the legal treatment of homemade liquor. On the other, the resources and technology required for commercial production of the product do not suffice.  

  In this context, doing a task such as branding of domestic liqour will not be a cakewalk. So, what can be done to smoothly move ahead to ease it?

According to Gii, "Fore and foremost, the legal hassles shall be done away for this.

Prof Dr. Nawaraj Devkota, vice chancellor of Gandaki University, also echoes the same voice.  "Since the prevailing laws are prime obstacles in the commercial production and promotion of homemade liquor,  they must be removed.   

A team at the university, including him,   is carrying out research on the potential of branding homemade liquor based on millet.  So far, half of the study has been done by assessing the brewing techniques of this kind of liquor  from all 11 districts of the Gandali Province and chemically examining marcha ( the natural yeast derived from plant roots for alcohol fermentation), bacterial, etc found in it." The very assessment and examination show that homemade liquor boasts some distinct characteristics and properties not available in other types of alcoholic beverages.

It is also found that by setting certain quality standards homemade liquor can be commercially produced and disturbed.  Similarly, as per the assessment, there is a potential for fermenting such alcohol from not only millet but also from other grains as well as fruits.

According to Upadhyay, the remaining 50 percent of the research will be zeroed in on how homemade liquor turns toxic and the ways to prevent it.  After accomplishing the research, the university aims to lay out a plan to brand the product in a systematic fashion. The marketization of homemade alcohol in a strategic way can assist the entire economy to prosper, he opines.

Arjun Chokhal, president of the Federation of Hotel Entrepreneurs Nepal (FHEN), Gandali province, also subscribes to this view It may help in gradually substituting the import of expensive foreign liquor and related raw materials, thus saving billions of rupees of the state coffer, according to him. 

" In the same vein, the very move reserves vast potential for the growth of enterprises pertaining to homemade liquor. Such growth will translate into the creation of employment opportunities here in the country." 

"As many other countries are earning big by branding their local liquor, Nepal should not continue to lag behind."   

In fact,  the government of Gandaki province has mentioned about enhancing the quality of homemade liquor by adopting modern production technology and branding the same.  In order to remove the legal hurdles regarding this, the provincial government is planning to hold dialogue with the federal government, according to Kaman Singh Gurung, secretary of the industry minister of Gandaki Province.