Moroccans were recently shocked by the news of multiple alcohol poisoning deaths north of the country, which sparked a national debate on the dangerous trends of illegal alcohol beverage propagation.
The deaths were linked to bad batches of illegally made traditional Moroccan homemade alcoholic beverages, called “Mahia”.
This prompted some civil society activists to demand the regularization of the drink, which is popularly consumed in Morocco.
Baron Nahmias, a Moroccan investor and producer of Mahia in the United States of America, agrees, saying that organizing and legalizing the process of manufacturing this substance is the guarantee to eliminate accidents in the country, which sometimes claim lives.
Nahmias, who is from the Taznakht region, added that he wishes to see a formal, and regulated Mahia manufacturing infrastructure in Morocco, in an interview with Hespress AR.
The baron said he had already sent bottles for testing to Morocco, and has already started supplying the Moroccan market with this product, stressing that Americans love the drink, forecasting that if marketed properly, Mahia has the potential to be the “tequila” of the future.
Many American cities have access to this Moroccan product, according to the expat. It is mainly sold in the Northeast and California, and the substance is available in bars and restaurants in New York, Los Angeles, and Atlanta and is used in “cocktails” as well as in cooking.
The price of a single Mahia bottle in the United States of America is $35 (equivalent to approximately MAD 400 Moroccan).
« It is sad that citizens die as a result of this, and the reason, in my opinion, is the absence of a law regulating the matter and the incorrect preparation of the product. In America the production and sales of alcohol are highly regulated at all federal and local levels, to avoid such tragedies. »
In the event that the production of the alcohol is legal with good supervision and proper process, Morocco will of course go a long way in ending the recurrence of such incidents, he told Hespress AR in an interview.
The businessman learned the craft from his mother, watching her make it from scratch at home as a little boy.
Later on, he took classes in liquor production in Chicago and Kentucky, and for the sake of this dream, he quit his software job and invested all his savings into starting his Mahia business overseas.
“I believe that if cultivated, the Mahia industry will generate billions of dollars for Morocco,” says Nahmias.
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