Kerala eyes toddy to plug liquor gap

Kerala’s decision to close 730 bars in the state under a new liquor policy has sparked off a sudden interest in toddy, the state’s traditional drink.

Toddy tapped in Kerala is available in two varieties - one from coconut trees and the other from palm trees.

Toddy tapped from the coconut tree is collected in a mud pot. Due to sediments in the pot, juice collected in four hours gets fermented and turns into toddy, which has an alcohol content of 5-8 percent.

State excise minister K Babu said toddy was a traditional industry and the government was going to give it a fillip, through new policies.

‘We will train new people to enter the tapping field. The need of the hour is to come out with a good variety of coconut trees,’ Babu said.

‘We have also planned to improve the facilities in toddy shops by making them cleaner. We propose to set up model toddy shops. Discussion with various stakeholders in the toddy industry is currently on,’ the minister said.

Kerala’s new liquor policy allows only 20 five-star hotels in the state to serve liquor. From 2 October, all Sundays will be dry days. Of the 383 state-owned retail liquor shops, 10 percent will close down each year, paving way for Kerala to achieve complete prohibition by 2 October, 2023.

However, the policy has been challenged by affected bar owners in the Kerala High Court, which has agreed to hear their plea on 18 September. 

The toddy industry had seen a decline for reasons like easy availability of liquor, lack of toddy tappers, not so clean shops and a serious question mark over quality.