OUR HISTORY
Becoming Malta’s longest-standing brewery
WHO WE ARE
Some are born brewers, some achieve brewing and some have brewing thrust upon them.
Our story does not depart from one specific date or period.
Nor does it tell a single story.
It tells the story of three families, distinct in backgrounds,
who over the centuries find common ground
to achieve together a great brewery and business: Simonds Farsons Cisk.
THE
SIMONDS
FAMILY
William Simonds begins brewing in 1774, and by 1785 his son wins a contract to supply the British Army. As the British Empire grows, so does the family business. By 1875 H.& G. Simonds of Reading Ltd sets up an agency in Malta.
THE
FARRUGIA
FAMILY
The Farrugias' trading roots can be traced to the 1840s, a merchant shipping family whose business activities steadily expand to include flour milling and pasta making in 1892. The mill is situated in Hamrun, which eventually becomes the first brewery.
THE
SCICLUNA
FAMILY
Lucrative importation of grain and sugar earns enough money for the Sciclunas to establish the first locally-owned private bank, Sciclunas Bank Malta, in 1830. Giuseppe Scicluna introduces cheques to Malta, the mispronunciation of which earns him the nickname "Cisk".
OUR HISTORY
Simonds Farsons Cisk plc is the leading independent brewer, bottler and food and beverage company based in Malta. Our long-standing success is a testament to decades of risk taking, hard work and determination to thrive in an industry that had been a graveyard for some until 1926. But the journey to get here was far from easy.
H. & G. Simonds of Reading Ltd. extend their brewing business to Malta, serving the Islands' British Crown troops garrisoned here or in transit to other colonies. The company opens a Valletta agency and start importing beer in casks and bottles. Eventually they increase the volumes by bulk importation, carbonating the beer locally, at L.Farrugia & Sons.
After WWI, scarcity and high prices spark the 1919 riots in which the Farrugias' flour mill is destroyed. After rebuilding it as a gas manufacturing plant, supplying gas to the Simonds bottling facility in Marsa, they embark on their own production. The Farsons Pale Ale, sporting the iconic Neptune on its label, is first sold at the Qormi feast of St. George on 19th April. It is an immediate success with both locals and British troops.
A new brewery not far from the Farsons facility is being built by the Portanier family. A tragic event forces the family to abandon the project to be taken up by its bankers: Sciclunas Bank. Marquis Scicluna manages to pull off the project, launching a range of German-style lager beers onto the market: the CISK brand is born. In this competitive market, Simonds looks for a local partner, approaching both Scicluna and the Farrugia brothers. The latter are favoured. Simonds Farsons Ltd is formed.
WWII wreaks a global crisis, leaving post-war Malta at grips with shortages, departure of troops and a will to rebuild. Competition intensifies to the point where the two major brewers realise that the best way forward is to merge rather than keep fighting price wars. The talks that had stalled in the 1930 are restarted: the merger is sealed in a few months. Simonds Farsons Cisk Ltd is launched.
Lewis V. Farrugia designs a new brewery and manages to build it in four years with hard earned funds from a British contract to supply troops in North Africa. The state-of-the-art brewery was a first of its kind in Malta, constructed completely of reinforced concrete. It became the flagship of Maltese industrial enterprise, and through it SFC continued to expand their portfolio of award-winning beers and drinks.
They say the rest is history.
The Farsons 1950 Brewery operated like a well-oiled machine until its decommissioning in 2013, following the construction of a new, more modern brewery on the road behind this building.
Over the course of 63 years, Simonds Farsons Cisk Ltd became leaders in the beverage market, expanding their product range and diversifying their business to become a 360o beverage company.
Now with the re-opening of The Brewhouse and The Farsons Brewery Experience, we can’t wait to see what else the future holds.
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