Some traditional Slovak brands

Zlatý Bažant (Golden Pheasant)

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


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