NEWS | Wednesday, 12 March 2008

MLPN celebrations mark record beverage sales

David Darmanin

Irrespective of whom they voted for, beverage distributors had every reason to celebrate last weekend. Record beer sales, particularly the local Cisk lager, were registered across all areas of mainland Malta over last weekend.
In some places, beer consumption surpassed records in summer village festas, notwithstanding that in normal circumstances, beer sales plummet drastically during the winter months.
Seeing that the publication of voting turnouts Sunday morning seemed to favour a Labour victory, celebrations were kicked off prematurely in some areas.
When, by mid-morning, the first sample of first preference votes favouring Labour was leaked from Naxxar, fully blown celebrations followed.
Early in the afternoon, the third sample was counted and tables started to turn. For a whole seven hours tension increased and countless of supporters from both camps grouped up in party clubs, where beer drinking seemed to be one of the main activities – be it for consolation, to numb tension, or simply to celebrate prematurely.

Once results were confirmed, after a long wait, there was more tension to be released – contributing to very well attended PN celebrations in Pieta’ and Balluta, as well as other spontaneous activities across the island. On Monday, a considerable number of business outlets were on shut down, leading some of the PN crowds to pursue their celebrations while others nursed hangovers.
“Business was as good as it is during the San Gaetano feast,” Alphonse Farrugia & Sons (AFS) Director Joe Bajada told Business Today. AFS, based in _amrun, is a major beverage distributor for catering outlets within the Valletta-Marsa-_amrun area. Running a well-sized Cash and Carry, AFS also supplied a large number of kiosks and makeshift bars set up for the occasion.
“I’m guessing that some business was taken away from the Paceville area last weekend,” Bajada said. “Cisk was as fast moving as all the foreign beers put together around here. In the past two years in particular, Cisk has managed to compete heavily in spite of all the foreign beers flooding the market.”
Bajada also mentioned that in a few days, one would be able to take a clearer stock of the situation as “we’re still receiving returned stock from certain customers.”
Impromptu bars will often over-stock with a pre-arrangement with beverage distributors to return whatever remains unsold.
“One must also take into consideration that in the coming days some candidates may be holding parties to thank all those who helped out during campaigns, so we’re expecting more business to flow our way.
“Due to the long wait, some canvassers – who will normally organise beverages during the celebrations, are now knackered, so we’re assuming that they are using these days to rest until they come back with more returns,” he added.
On his part, Tarcisio Piscopo, Managing Director of Piscopo Cash and Carry in Paola told Business Today that their busiest day during elections was Saturday, and that they were on shutdown on Monday. “We didn’t have much returned stock, and we’re not expecting large amounts of returns either,” he said, remarking that business was also solid in the southern districts. “We noticed that there was a large number of bars set up in the streets, as we have supplied many of them.”
Piscopo Cash and Carry is a known distributor for different occasions, with a Paola base predominantly outreaching the Marsaskala, _abbar, Fgura and Paola areas.
On business during summer, with what village festas bring, Piscopo commented : “During these elections sales were definitely better than the festa in Paola. The festa in _abbar is a different story, as they celebrate on a large scale there. For us, and our competitors, _abbar is a huge money-maker, I can’t compare.”
Also contacted was Martin Bugeja, Director of Hansa Wines and Spirits in Qawra. Hansa cater for the North and North-East districts, including the beer-guzzling St Julians and Sliema areas.
Bugeja could not confirm whether the established Paceville clubs suffered due to the success witnessed by kiosks, makeshift bars and smaller catering establishments, as Paceville clubs are not part of their core business.
“Business activity in the areas we cater for was very good,” Bugeja said. “Those who set up makeshift bars and kiosks, planned beforehand, so business here was staggered over a number of days. We haven’t had any significant returns yet, as we are still expecting more parties to be held.”
Irrespective of how good business was this weekend, it could not come near Hansa’s hold on the sales they register during summer.
“When festas are organised round the area we get very high volumes of business in short spans of time. There are weekends in summer when we would be busy supplying different localities celebrating feasts.”