The new product, “Perła Fit”, debuted on the market in early April, however the real storm around him has only now begun.
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From the very beginning, the producer did not spare marketing admiration for his work. As “Gazeta Wyborcza” writes, official announcements state that “Perła Fit is a light beer (alcohol 3.4% by volume) with reduced calories and low sugar content. It contains only 1 g of sugar per 100 ml, while retaining what is most important – the full taste of Perła.”
Brewery representatives also argue that is an innovative proposition for people who do not want to give up classic beer in favor of non-alcoholic variants. However, as the daily notes, this idea is aimed more at catching up with market standards than at creating market innovation.
The most controversial fact is that this project consumed as much as PLN 38.2 million of EU and state funding from NCBiR (with the brewery's own contribution of PLN 57.3 million). These funds were to finance research and launch of the production line.
Experts in the fight against addiction are critical of the activities of NCBiR. In an interview with “Gazeta Wyborcza”, the head of the State Agency for Solving Alcohol-related Problems, Krzysztof Brzózka, calls the entire situation absurd, pointing to, on the one hand, state spending on fighting addictions and, on the other hand, support for alcohol producers.
NCBiR took the floor
The National Center for Research and Development itself responds to “Gazeta Wyborcza's” questions about the validity of the subsidy in a very evasive manner, citing procedures from the past. Officials emphasize that the agreement was signed in May 2019, and the recruitment of applications started in 2018, under the previous EU financial perspective.
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NCBiR ends the discussion by stating that “in accordance with the procedure, the project was subject to substantive assessment by independent experts and, based on their recommendations, it was selected for co-financing”. Officials add that the implementation of this technology is expected to increase the company's competitiveness and constitute a “breakthrough in the industry.”
An institution under the microscope of the services
The controversy over subsidies for the Lublin brewery is part of a longer series of image and legal problems of NCBiR. This institution, which has billions of zlotys for innovation, has long been struggling with suspicions of gross mismanagement. Just a few days ago, the CBA detained former deputy minister Jacek Ż., who supervised the Center in the PiS government and resigned after multi-million scandals came to light.
