Zlatý Bažant (Golden Pheasant)
Zlatý Bažant beer got its name from the prevalence of pheasants
in barley fields around the town of Hurbanovo, where it is made:
the presence of the birds have always signalled a rich crop and
excellent quality. The Zlatý Bažant brand dates back to 1969,
when the brewery was set up in Hurbanovo. The launch and
development of the malthouse and brewery was inspired in
particular by the favourable climatic conditions of the region.
Moreover, the lack of a local beer laid the basis for future sales
and the proximity of a significant port, in Komárno, allowed the
product to be transported to more remote markets. The beer had
established itself in foreign markets as early as the 1970s.
This was partly thanks to a number of innovations. For
example, the brewery in Hurbanovo was the first in any of the
then-communist countries to sell beer in cans.
Horalka
Horalka has been the king of Slovak wafers for decades. Neither
the introduction of the free market nor competition from other
wafers has been able to oust it from the number-one spot in
Slovakia, according to the Hospodárske Noviny daily. It remains
popular even though it has preserved its old-style packaging and
looks like a product dating from the 1960s. Slovaks have been
eating the wafer, with its peanut filling and partial cocoa
coating, for 57 years. Horalka was ‘invented’ by Pečivárne Sereď in
1953. At that time, when a number of companies were producing
bare wafers, the company wanted to innovate. To keep its
product accessible, it coated only the ends to improve the taste,
while keeping its price low. I.D.C. Holding privatised Pečivárne
Sereď back in 1992.
Indulona
If you ask people in Slovakia and the Czech Republic what is the
most well-known hand cream there the most frequent answer
would probably be Indulona. Since its launch on the market in
1964, several generations have used it to care for their hands. In
spite of its primary purpose as a hand cream, legends abound of
the other uses into which it was pressed during the communist
period. Only those lacking in imagination applied it only to their
hands or face. People used it as a sunbathing cream, cream for
shoes and leather handbags and jackets, as well as for polishing
wood or greasing rubber parts in washing machines.
Dermatologists recommended it to people suffering from eczema
as it did not contain any preservative agents. Indulona was
developed by the pharmaceutical company Slovakofarma
Hlohovec, now part of Zentiva. A group of doctors and
pharmacists began working on its composition as early as 1948
and it finally entered production in 1964. It is exceptional because
of its ingredients, the ratio of individual elements and the
conditions under which it is produced, which equals those for
production of medicines and curative ointments.
Tatramat
During the previous regime Tatramat was synonymous with
washing machines. The predecessor of the current producer of
washing machines in Poprad dates back to the 19th century. In
1845 Carl August Scholtz set up a mechanical engineering
workshop in the nearby village of Matejovce. Over the years it
changed its name as well as its range of products until finally, in
the 1970s, settling on the Tatramat brand and making its main
focus the manufacture of washing machines. After the fall of the
communist regime it split into two units: one sticking to
production of washing machines, now Whirlpool Slovakia; and
the second producing water heaters, which retained the
Tatramat brand.
Source: Companies, Hospodárske Noviny daily
