Cachaça makers begin changing labels after US recognizes it as a distinct Brazilian product

Criado em 15/04/13 10h23 e atualizado em 15/04/13 10h33
Por Mariana Branco Edição:s Fonte:Agencia Brasil

Brasilia – Brazilian cachaça makers have begun substituting labels on new bottles, replacing the generic term “Brazilian Rum,”with “Cachaça,” after it was recognized by the United States as a distinct Brazilian product (“produto de origim exclusiva brasileira”). According to the president of the Brazilian Cachaça Institute (“Ibra”), Vicente Bastos, within six months to a year all the bottles for sale in the US will have the new labels.

Brazil and the United States recently reached reciprocal agreements recognizing cachaça as a distinct Brazilian product and Bourbon and Tennessee Whiskey as distinct American products.

Bastos says recognition as a distinct product does not automatically mean more sales. Some work has to be done, he says, to make cachaça popular in the US. He reports that the cachaça industry employs some 600,000 people in Brazil and exports $20 million annually. It is possible that the industry may seek to set up a regulatory council in the future in order to maintain quality control, says the president of the Ibrac.

Editors: Fabio Massalli / Licia Marques
Translation: Allen Bennett