Goa keen to have GI tag for cashew fruit, nut, ‘Urrak’

Panaji, May 10: The Goa government is in the process of obtaining Geographical Indication (GI) tags for cashew fruit, cashew nut and ‘Urrak’, a local brew.

Deviya Vishwajit Rane, MLA Poriem and Chairperson of Goa Forest Development Corporation on Friday said that GFDC has sent proposals to obtain GI tags.

She was speaking to media persons during ‘Goa Cashew Fest’ here.

“We are trying to protect the quality of Goan cashew. Along with Urrak, we have sought permission for a GI tag for cashew fruit and cashew nut. It is important to have a GI tag for cashew to promote our Goan brand. In the next six months we should get it,” she said.

‘Urrak’ is obtained from the single distillation process, while once double distilled, the drink is referred to as ‘feni’. Urrak, which is a seasonal drink, containing alcohol, is consumed with lime juices. However, feni is blended with spices like clove, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon to make another variation called 'masala feni'.

Feni, a drink commonly and socially consumed by the local residents of the coastal state, was notified as the state heritage drink by the Goa government in 2016.

Cashew feni is also the country's first indigenous liquor to obtain the GI tag, a process which was initiated by local manufacturers of the brew in 2009.

A year back, Goa government had written to the embassies of some foreign countries with a request to popularise and import ‘Feni’ in their countries.