Brandy from the area of Serbia is of exceptional quality and as such has good export potential, but producers need stronger state support and better product promotion, they say for the New Economy in the Association of Brandy Producers of Serbia.
The first and basic thing that needs to be solved is the regulation of the market, that is, the application of the laws that define the trade in alcoholic beverages, according to food technologist Ivan Urosevic from the Association of Brandy Producers of Serbia.
“There is still a large amount of goods that are sold outside the legal channels, mostly online, black ads. This is an essentially big problem, because illegal sellers of alcoholic beverages are unfair competition that producers cannot overcome,” said the interlocutor of Nova Ekonomija.
At the end of last year, the Ministry of Agriculture announced a competition for subsidies to producers of strong alcoholic beverages. They could then apply for funds to cover acceptable investments, costs in the construction of facilities, purchase of new equipment, devices and machines for production.
The highest total amount of incentives that the user can receive in one calendar year is 130 thousand euros. The conditions of the competition stipulate that funds are allocated for investments and costs, which were realized in the previous year in relation to the year of submitting the request.
Ivan Urosevic says that three and a half times more interested people applied for last year’s subsidies than there were funds. That is why he believes that such actions must continue and be much more frequent.
“Subsidies are quite late. It would be important if, as in some other branches, they could be created so as to obtain a budget. Which would practically mean that people could invest much more with the same money than this when they have to wait for a refund, which can only then invest further,” says Urosevic.
Brandy is authentic and specific to Serbia, and it differs from brandy from the region primarily in quality, explains Urosevic.
“The fruit used as a raw material base is much better than in Western countries. In our country, only the first or second class of fruit is used for processing. Second, double distillation also has a great impact on the quality itself,” said one of our leading production consultants.
According to him, these are exactly the reasons why consumers in the West extremely appreciate Serbian fruit brandy. However, he believes that promotion must be better and more aggressive in order for quality to come to the fore in a larger market, and that the state must stand behind it.
“Our brandy is very little known in the world, and the export of that product abroad is not significant yet. However, in the last year or two, exports to the large American market have been more intensive. However, that market does not yet recognize brandy as a beverage category. Promotion would open the door to the sale of larger quantities abroad and provided producers with an additional financial boost, and the state would have an inflow of foreign exchange,” adds Urosevic.
When asked how much the recent candidacy of Serbian plum brandy for the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage can contribute to its placement on foreign markets, our interlocutor answered that it cannot mean anything special for plum brandy in terms of sales, because the goal of that candidacy is to protect tradition.
“However, in later phases, the protection of the geographical indication of Serbian brandies can be helpful, because that would confirm its authenticity as a Serbian product,” said the representative of the Association of Serbian Brandy Producers.
It is not yet known how this year’s late, spring frosts will affect the plum crop, says Snezana Dragicevic Filipovic from the Agricultural Advisory Service of Serbia in Cacak.
“The plum is now in the redrawing phase, so it will only be seen after that completed phase what the approximate percentage of damage to the plum is,” says our interlocutor.
She explains that the damage from frosts also depends on the terrain where the orchards are located, and she believes that they will certainly be where the temperature drop ranged from -7 to -10 degrees.
“In the higher areas, there may be a slightly lower percentage of damage, and in the lower parts, there will certainly be some,” adds Dragicevic Filipovic.
When it comes to spring works, she says that farmers who are seriously and exclusively engaged in fruit production performed pruning on time.
“Apple fruit species are pruned at the end of December, in January, February, and stone fruit species a little later – at the beginning, say, in February and by March, it is finished, so there were no major problems in that regard,” explains PSSS fruit advisor in Cacak, Nova Ekonomija reports.
