The second festival of fruit brandies and liqueurs, with about fifty participants, was held in the returnee village of Tovarnik organized by the Tovarnik Association of Fruit Growers “Rujan”, which gathers 35 family farms from the area.
Toasting with Srem plum brandy, the festival was opened by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Petar Čobanković. Emphasizing the need to improve fruit growing in Croatia, he assessed that this activity has fallen to very low branches. “Orchards have significantly decreased, and as a result, the import of fruit has significantly increased,” he stated. He added that if domestic fruit production is to be increased, investments must be made in the construction of cold storage facilities and processing plants.
The visitors were also addressed by the Vukovar-Srijem County Prefect Božo Galić, advocating for the preservation of traditional culture, which, as he said, should be a recognizable symbol of Croatia in the European Union. The municipal mayor Marinko Beljo also spoke, announcing that next year the festival of brandies and liqueurs will be joined by a festival of homemade jams. According to him, there are about 100 hectares of orchards in the Tovarnik area.
Visitors could observe the custom of distilling brandy in stills, baking homemade bread, and cooking jams, which they could also taste. Among the exhibitors, in addition to producers of brandies and liqueurs, there were barrel makers and artisans of homemade crafts, and numerous folklore groups performed in the cultural-artistic program. The festival, sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, was also accompanied by several expert lectures, and new regulations in the production of fruit brandies and liqueurs were presented. (H)
