Luc Lari and Ferdi Stekaj hope Americans will soon be saying Gezuar! as they hoist a glass of the national drink of Albania.
Last week American Global Ventures signed an exclusive agreement to market raki (pronounced rocky) in the U.S. The agreement was signed with Lari, owner of the Syni i Zi distillery in Malesia e Madhe (Great Mountains), a district in northern Albania.
American Global Ventures partners include Ed Arace, managing partner of Arace & Company Consultants L.L.C. in Warwick, and Gjok “Jack” Deckaj, an Orange County entrepreneur who owns Nobel Coffee Roasters Inc. in Campbell Hall.
For Lari and Stekaj, the chief elected official in his district, the eye is not just on profits, but rather to improve the economy of the municipality, which has a population of 55,000. Selling the alcoholic beverage beyond the boundaries of Albania will mean an increase in production and thus a need for more workers.
The drink, which is similar to Italian grappa, is made from fermenting the kallmet grape, which Lari said is only grown in his rugged region that is comprised of towering mountains, referred to as the Albanian Alps.
The highly agricultural province is just coming into its own economically after having been under Communist rule until 1990.
“It was a different political scene after 1990,” Stekaj said through an interpreter. He was in Warwick last week to meet with the American Global Ventures partners as well as to establish a sister city relationship with Warwick Town Supervisor Michael Sweeton and Michael Johndrow, executive director of the Warwick Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Post-Communist Albania became “integrated with the West,” Stekaj said.
Prior to 1990, everything belonged to the state and all production was dictated by the government, Stekaj said. After the fall of Communism, people were able to return to their farmland. It also meant a return to their heritage of creating raki. He explained that traditionally every home in northern Albania had enough to produce their own raki for their own consumption. But under Communist rule, the tradition was broken and many young people did not learn the art of making raki.
“The favorable climate of the current government has encouraged the citizens to put the land to work, to increase jobs,” Stekaj said.
That”™s where Lari and his distillery come in. Lari had spent 16 years in Italy learning winemaking and how to make grappa.
For the past nine years, he has been toiling in his vineyard and Syni i Zi distillery. The name translates to “black eye,” which in the Albanian culture refers to the attractiveness of a dark-eyed woman.
Lari was looking to broaden the distribution of his beverages ”“ a light-colored raki made in copper barrels and a dark-colored one that is aged in oak barrels.
Arace and Deckaj were in Albania working on a project when a side trip to Malesia e Madhe resulted in a visit with Lari and Stekaj. Lari said through an interpreter, “I have a good quality product and want to go into the American market based on its quality. I want to increase the production of the raki and provide work for fellow Albanians.”
Stekaj echoed his statement, saying, “Raki is a pure grape product; naturally distilled. I have high hopes to find a market outside of Albania. The sale of this product will help the people in the region to achieve a higher standard of living.”
The group is now talking with a number of importers in the New York metro region to roll out the drink.
According to 2008 U.S. Census numbers, there were 201,118 people of Albanian ancestry in the nation, with the more than half living in the Northeast.
Arace said his group intends to penetrate and market raki through Albanian-owned restaurants, of which the New York metro region has a high concentration.
He said restaurants would be the easiest way to get the word out on the new import.
