apricot | TasteBrandy Blog

Simex Slivovitz has the name Brka, which means “A man with a mustache.”

Simex from Subotica is one of young distilleries, and as such, has no long history to talk about. However, the quality of their product is well-known, and therefore, Simex is one of the most frequent names in the fancy restaurants in Serbia. It still hasn’t found its way to the wide open world, but, on the local level, the company proved itself. At Agronomic fair in Novi Sad, it received both gold and silver medal for two different types of rakia. Besides the recognition regarding the quality of the drinks, it also received recognition for the design of the packages.

However, even though there are many good results of their work, there is something that causes the trouble and nightmares to all the people working in Simex. For some reason, groups of forgers decided to create and sell fake packages of this company. They would produce it in an uncontrolled environment, and sell on the local green market. The loss of the company was not only based on the price of the drinks they didn’t really sell, but also based on all of the bottles people refused to buy in the future, fearing for their health. And all those losses were enormous.

On the other hand, there are sources who claim that the entire story regarding the forgery is nothing but a trick to gain the media attention. Well, there is no such thing as “the bad marketing,” right? But there is a huge difference between a product and a pop star. Or, at least, I hope so.

Did you know?

Simex Slivovitz has the name Brka, which means “A man with a mustache.” And, if you take a look at the gentleman on the package, he indeed has a mustache, following the fashion of ancestors. Some said that it’s a younger version of the man who can be seen on the old packages of Jagodinsko Beer, and as such, a copy. It’s quite incredible how people can find a way to argue about just anything.

Not so long ago it was discussed in the Chamber of Commerce, how the companies should act toward the design options. Besides the all the trouble regarding the copy/paste moments, they also thought how the package needs to show from which part of the Serbia it came. The next problem that came out was the fact that every distillery gets their plums from everywhere where there is a healthy fruit.

Production of the wine was popular in Zupa, long before the company was formed.

There are a few companies who managed to rebuild themselves after their transition from government to the private sector. And, I’m so glad that Vino Zupa is one of them. The company that produces not just wine, as it’s stated in the name (vino=wine), but also many other alcoholic beverages, and tasty juices.

Its incredible journey starts in 1956, when nine worker cooperatives joined their forces in Zupa, after WWII. In the entire country, it was the period of hard work, and getting everything back on its feet. It is very funny that the section for fruit juices started on the first of April, 1962, which was a pretty serious step for the day that is considered for a day of jokes.

Of course, the crisis in 1990, inflicted Vino Zupa as well as any other company, and unfortunately, the company wasn’t able to rebuild itself on its own, so it ended up in the hands of the man who was ready to bring back the good, old days of the company. In 2002, the new chapter of the story was opened, as the rainbow after the rain.

Year after year, the company grows bigger, presenting new products, hiring new people, improving the quality, entering the new markets.

Did you know?

Production of the wine was popular in Zupa, long before the company was formed. There is a manifestation, called “Zupska berba,” meaning “grape harvest in Zupa,” and recent everyone’s favorite part of the manifestation included free wine tasting. It went even further, with the wine fountain where people could grab as much as they wanted, or as much as they could handle.

Personally, I never encourage the second option, but some people often end up with that one. And, it’s not very hard to end up with it, considering the old saying of the vineyard workers: “The best wine is the one that is cold, there is plenty of it, and it’s free.” This definition for sure is very rough, but the people who had a lot of good time, seem to be OK with it.

However, even that one wasn’t the greatest alcoholic attraction this area had to offer. The greatest wine attraction was, and still is, the giant cistern, whose capacity of 5.600.000 liters contains the best wine there is. Of course, there is also the Museum of wineries and vineyards, but it’s only for those nostalgic or curious people, who wish to look back, at the past.