€27 million new Farsons beer packaging plant inaugurated

Government will strive to keep oiling the engine of the economy, so that local businesses – the powerhouse of the country’s economy – will continue to flourish, according to prime minister Joseph Muscat.

He was speaking at the inauguration of a new state-of-the-art €27 million beer packaging facility by Simonds Farsons Cisk plc.

The new facility will allow Farsons to produce and package beer and other
beverages in exportable packages.

The new facility was blessed archbishop Charles Scicluna, who offered a brief prayer for the group’s management and workers, as well as the country’s leaders.

Muscat and Farsons Group chairman Louis A. Farrugia together pressed a launch button, starting the packaging plant and triggering a live projection of the actual plant onto the wall of plant where the guests were gathered.

The new three-storey beer packaging plant

Muscat said that the success recorded in economic growth did not come by chance, but was the result of the government’s vision and decisions.

“Success is not automatic; it means decisions,” he said. “And when you decide, you cannot please everyone and will cause some rebuke, but i would rather be judged on a decision I take rather than on one I postpone.”

Muscat said that the days when the country was happy to be second best, but that was no longer the case.

“We aspire to be nothing but the best,” he said, thanking Farsons for the investment and for its continued contribution to the economy.

Muscat acknowledged that a lot more needed to be done to combat inequalities, poverty, the environment and governance. 

“But we have achieved so much together,” he said. “We have delivered on the single most important factor, jobs, because work is dignity, and together with education is the single strongest tool for social mobility.”

Muscat said the government was in discussion with Farsons and other operators in the sector to make sure that its policies were shaped in the best way possible. 

“I am particularly keen in seeing the implementation of a system that encourages the handing in of empty plastic bottles and cans by consumers,” he said. 

“We already announced this programme and now I feel we are at a crucial juncture to see how this system can live alongside industry driven waste collection, while determining the right level of incentive to the consumer.”

Archbishop Charles Scicluna offering a blessing for the new plant and the group's workers

Muscat also praised Farrugia for his contribution to the community and for taking up the government’s invitation to be the first chairman of the Imriehel Industrial Zone Foundation.

“Two years or so ago, Farrugia came up to me with this idea to manage this rather underestimated area with one coherent development strategy,” he said. “I bought the idea immediately.”

Muscat said Imriehel will be an exciting place to be in during the next few years thanks to a number of landmark investments, which will also include new investments by Farsons in the old Brewhouse, arguably one of the most iconic and recognisable pieces of industrial architecture in Malta.

Farrugia said that the new facility was another important milestone as it made it possible for the group to implement its vision of establishing itself as a regional player within the beverage sector.

“This major investment closely follows the €12.5 million investment in the new Brewhouse, completed in 2012,” he said. “Through our long term master plan, we have replaced most of our critical operational assets investing €135 million in 26 years.”

Farrugia said the group had also invested in its brands, commissioning an international design agency to upgrade the packaging livery, now at par with the world’s best.

“We have been working on developing our export business over a number of years and achieving steady progress,” he said.

“During 2015, we exported the equivalent of four hundred 20-foot containers, while the number of export markets we have managed to penetrate has continued to increase.”

The new Farsons beer packaging plant in operation

He said the group now covered a total of 15 countries across five continents and that the new investment now allowed the group to extend its export reach even further, in line with its business aspirations for the future.  

Farrugia said that the group did not invest only in the plant, the infrastructure and its brands but also in re-training and upskilling its workforce.

“It is our dedicated and committed workforce which is bringing our vision to life and enabling us to reap the benefits of our investments while remaining a totally owned Maltese group led by Maltese management selling Maltese brands in Malta and other markets,” he said.

Group chief executive Norman Aquilina said that the beer packaging facility had a footprint of 4,500 square metres, on three floors, and encompassed three packaging lines; two for returnable and non-returnable glass bottles, and a canning line.

He explained that the project necessitated construction and technical expertise provided by Maltese and foreign companies coordinated by Farsons’ own project team, led by chief operating officer, engineer Ray Sciberras.

 “Farsons now has the impressive capacity to package 30,000 bottles and 40,000 cans per hour to high European standards,” Aquilina said.

“The structure and design of this building along with the layout of the packaging plant has been built in a way to optimise on the targeted efficiency whilst also giving us the productive flexibility in terms of the different packaging requirements and maximization of storage capacity.”