FARSONS EXPORTS 2022UNPRECEDENTED VALUE & VOLUME LEVELS

STEPHEN SULTANA, HEAD OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

2022 was characterized by numerous challenges in most of our overseas markets. However, despite a global pandemic, the conflict in Ukraine, rising costs and supply chain disruptions, the past two years have seen our exports grow considerably, reaching unprecedented value and volume levels.

Farsons was able to act fast and adapt to overcome adversities, keeping sales consistently high and even managing to enter several previously untapped markets.

In the international arena, Farsons is often pitted against larger competitors, with deep pockets, and whose brands enjoy a long-standing dominant market position. Furthermore, distribution structures and consumer preferences abroad differ considerably from those in Malta. However, the inherent quality of our products, as evidenced by the ever-growing collection of prestigious awards, has enabled us to carve niches for some of our key brands.

Today the company exports its products to over 20 countries in Europe, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Asia and the Middle East. These include nearby markets, like Italy, Greece,

France, Poland and the UK, as well as more distant markets, such as Australia, Canada, India, Liberia, Taiwan and Bahrain. If new initiatives in the Baltic states and West Africa come to fruition over the next year or two, this list will keep growing.

Entering a new export market is always a major challenge, but so too is maintaining one’s strong presence within an existing one. The advent of Covid-19 and its global disruptive effects severely impacted our previously stable Italian and Australian markets, but both have since bounced back with 2022 being one of the best years to date.

As a market challenger as opposed to a market leader, market penetration tends to be a gradual and long-term process, so, one might ask, why bother? The truth is that our strong position in the local market offers us limited growth potential, so any ambitious company such as ours will always be looking for new opportunities. Competing beyond our turf means that to succeed we must be inherently more competitive. This increases the pressure to always question our way of doing things and look for improved efficiencies and productivity gains, no matter how small or marginal they may seem. Exports will immediately punish a company’s complacency, therefore staying export-competitive forces us to be a better company. After all, who does not enjoy drinking a Cisk when away from home and on holiday!

The key to export success also rests on our ability to understand and adapt to different markets and different market conditions. For example, it has proven more cost-effective for us to have Kinnie produced in Australia under licence. We are exploring similar licence arrangements in the Baltics and West Africa. In some instances, we have also developed entirely new products, such as Cisk Super Strong Lager, which was created specifically for export markets with an evident consumer preference for strong beers. The possibility of eventually introducing fruitflavoured versions of our awardwinning Cisk 0.0 Non-Alcoholic Beer is also being considered for certain markets in the Middle East and North Africa.

Exporting is a TEAM sport, and it takes dozens of people’s hard work and dedication to make a success of it. It is not just the remit of the Export Department, but ultimately dependent upon the effective and efficient function of the wider Farsons team and company.