On Friday. the Minister for Gozo Dr Anton Refalo, paid an official visit to Magro Brothers at The Magro Food Village in Xewkija Gozo.

This visit forms part of this year's centenary celebrations of Magro Brothers. Managing Director Mr John Magro and Director Mr Michael Magro welcomed the Minister and showed him around the various factories and workshops at The Magro Food Village.

During the visit the Minister met a number of employees from the various divisions of the company.

The firm Magro Brothers was established 100 years ago in May 1916 at Xewkija, Gozo. Gianni Magro was then already an established general provisions merchant, and at the age of 50 he decided to rope into the business his three sons; Wigi, Giuseppi and Manwel. Over the years the business expanded and soon became the premier company in Gozo.

In 1977, all the shares of Magro Brothers were acquired by Manwel's family and from then onwards, John & Michael, the third generation of the Magro family, took full responsibility for the running of the company. Today, John's three children, the fourth generation of the family, are already engaged in the family business and are ably assisted by professional executives and managers from outside the family.

The company is still a family concern, still operates from the island Gozo and is still heavily involved in food processing and in the Maltese agricultural sector.

The company processes over 85% of Malta's tomato crop from its 200 registered farmers in Malta and Gozo. It is also an important operator in the dairy sector and in the packaging of Maltese honey, local olive oil and pickled vegetables.

The company employs an annual workforce of 120 personnel which peaks to 160, with temporary employees, during the tomato season. In 2015 the wage bill of the company amounted to almost 2.5 million Euros making the company one of the leading employers in Gozo.

Besides regular job opportunities, the company also offers specialised careers – an opportunity which is not very commonly found in the Gozitan labour market. The company said that it also proudly boasts the highest food safety certifications in Europe and therefore workers continuously receive training to become world class employees.

The company is still expanding and is presently seeking to engage more personnel. Besides this contribution in direct employment, Magro said that it generates a further 100 full time equivalent jobs in ancillary services such as printing material, packaging, transport services, sales activities, marketing etc.

Magro added that it is continuously developing new products in response to changes in consumers` demands and lifestyles, both locally and also for overseas markets. Over the last 3 years the company has invested 2.5 million Euros in new processing lines and a similar investment programme is in place for the next 2 years.

The company's export portfolio includes major supermarkets in several European countries and leading distributors in Africa and Asia. In Malta the company is renowned for its popular brands including The Three Hills Brand, Mayor, Savina, Hanini, Victoria and more recently Pinto`s Pride.

Photographs: The Minister during his visit to the factory, centre photo left: Michael, John, Christian and Nicholas Magro, top right: Ganni Magro and bottom right the Original Magro Brothers, Manuel, Wigi & Guzeppi

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