With the type of tourists that Bali attracts, alcoholic beverages are certainly not in short supply on the island. But the local government believes that Bali’s own traditional liquor isn’t nearly as popular as it should be, and a new regulation from the central government may just give it a shot at prominence.
Earlier this year, the Bali Provincial Government appealed to the Ministry of Industry to legalize the distribution of Balinese arak, a traditional liquor made from tuak (a sweet drink from coconut palm flower). The appeal was granted recently, meaning that arak can be legally produced and marketed islandwide.
“We will promote arak,” Governor I Wayan Koster said, as quoted by Tribun Bali.
“[Now] we can compete with the Japanese Sake.”
With the ruling, Koster said the provincial government will support local arak producers in Bali, many of whom are based in Karangasem, Buleleng, and Tabanan regencies.
Bali currently produces 1.1 million liters of arak per year, but Koster is eyeing a massive boost to production — up to around 6 million liters per year — on the back of legalizing distribution. He also appealed to local producers to uphold quality and lower alcoholic levels if needed from now on.
“We will take care of those with local arak [distilleries], I have collected their data, for Balinese people only. So our arak producers will thrive,” Koster said.
Balinese arak was among the thousands of illegally distributed liquor bottles confiscated and destroyed by the police recently. We imagine that figure would decrease drastically now that distribution of arak is legal.
Related: Thousands of illegal liquor bottles destroyed in Bali
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