The last trace of Presov’s storied liquor-making tradition is fading. Prelika, the city’s final operating distillery and mustard producer, is closing after years of decline, bringing an end to a legacy that began in 1903 with 22 local estate owners.
Founded as a cooperative with a sizeable annual output for its time – 34,000 hectolitres – the company weathered political upheavals and economic shifts for more than a century. But recent years brought staff cuts and plunging revenues. The company’s turnover fell from EUR 4.5 million to EUR 3.4 million last year, culminating in EUR 470,000 in losses over two years.
Prelika’s products will survive – just not in Presov.
The Trencin-based Old Herold, one of Slovakia’s largest distilleries, has acquired Prelika’s spirits, including its signature Horec and Spisiacka brands. The firm expects an annual boost of EUR 2.5 million in sales, Old Herold’s CEO Martin Spurny has said. The company is co-owned by Miroslav Maxon, a former finance minister under the HZDS governments, and Rastislav Machunka, a prominent employers’ association leader.
Meanwhile, mustard production is moving south to Kolarovo. Tomata, a growing food producer led by Zoltan Szaraz, has taken over Prelika’s mustard lines, drawn by both the quality of its recipes and a strategic desire to keep them out of competitors’ hands.
“We bought it to stop someone else, like Jan Sabol’s group, from doing so and competing with us,” Szaraz explained.
The company will maintain Prelika’s signature packaging and guarantee consistency for eastern customers.
Szaraz declined to buy Prelika’s spirits division, citing unfamiliarity with alcohol production. Tomata’s acquisition adds roughly EUR 800,000 in new sales annually, strengthening its position as Slovakia’s second-largest mustard brand behind Snico.
The Presov plant’s closure marks the final chapter of a post-privatisation journey that began in the 1990s with Fragopolis and continued through bankruptcy and revival. (The Slovak Spectator)