Malta-based brewing firm Simonds Farsons Cisk will open a new beer packaging facility with an investment of €27m.

Farsons

The new facility will comprise a glass line and a canning line, which will be capable of filling beer and non-alcoholic beverages three times more than the existing capacity.

The new lines are expected to improve quality and productivity, while increasing the company’s efficiency through automation, lower energy consumption and water reduction.

Work on the project is expected to commence in April 2014, with completion slated during April 2016.

The project will also centralize raw and packaging material storage, reduce handling costs, computerise inventory control as well as include investment in new technology.

Farsons chairman Louis Farrugia said the company aims to become a niche regional player in the beverage market and and treble its exports within the next five years.

"We have been totally committed to investing in new facilities to ensure that we remain competitive and so grow our businesses in our own and other markets," Farrugia added.

Farsons has invested no less than €50m in a new PET packaging facility, a logistics center and a new brewhouse, during the past six years.