Simonds Farsons Cisk

"Cisk" redirects here. For other uses, see Cisk (disambiguation).

Simonds Farsons Cisk

Type	Public
Industry	Beverage
Founded	1928 by Giuseppe Scicluna
Area served	Malta
Products	Cisk Lager Kinnie
Website	Farsons.com

Simonds Farsons Cisk is a brewery founded in Malta in 1928.

History

"The Malta Export Brewery" was created when the first privately-owned Maltese bank, established in 1840 by Giuseppe Scicluna, took over one of their client's operations in 1928. They were granted a temporary exclusive licence to manufacture lagers and from this take-over was born Malta's first beer, the 'Cisk Pilsner'.

The Malta Export Brewery eventually merged with Simonds Farsons Limited in 1948. This company had itself been formed in 1929 by the merger of the local brewing firm, L. Farrugia & Sons (alias 'Farsons') and the Maltese branch of the Simonds' Brewery based in Reading, Berkshire in the United Kingdom. The new company became Simonds Farsons Cisk Limited.

Products

Simonds Farsons Cisk plc produces the following beers : Cisk (Lager), Cisk Export (Premium Lager), Hopleaf (Pale Ale), Hopleaf Extra (Premium Pale Ale), Blue Label (Ale), Lacto (Milk Stout), Traditional and Lemon & Lime shandies, as well as Carlsberg and Skol under licence. The company also has a "Smooth 'n' Creamy" draught variant of Hopleaf and Blue Label, and also produces a variety of soft drinks, table waters, juices and juice drinks.

Beer

Cisk Lager is a golden-coloured, bottom-fermented lager with an alcohol content of 4.2% . Fruit and malt flavours can be noted. The name "Cisk" originates from Giuseppe Scicluna's nickname "Iċ-Ċisk" or in English, "The cheque". Scicluna was notable for his use of cheques, and due to the unpopularity of the payment method in Malta at that time, some of Scicluna's clients had the habit of referring to him as "Ċisk". Other than Cisk, Farsons also produces Blue Label (Ale) and Hopleaf (Pale-Ale) as well as the non-alcoholic citrus soft drink, Kinnie.

Restaurants

Farsons is a major franchisee of Burger King, Pizza Hut and KFC in Malta, Italy and other European countries.^[1] The company's first Burger King location opened in Malta in 1995,^[2] KFC in 1996,^[3] and Pizza hut in 1993.^[4] It added TGI Fridays to its stable of restaurants in 1999.^[5]

Gallery

• 

  Cisk logo.

Awards

• Cisk Lager was awarded top prize in the International Lager Category at the 1995 Australian Beer Awards and was presented with the Pfizer Food Science Trophy for the lager obtaining the highest number of votes in the same competition.

• Cisk Lager had achieved a similar dual championship recognition during the 1980 Brewex Competition held in the UK when it had been awarded gold medals for both the "Lager" and the "Best Overall" categories.

• Cisk Lager was named "World's Best Traditional Lager" by Beers of The World in 2007.

• Cisk Excel was named "World's Best Low Carb Beer" by Beers of the World in 2007.

References

1. ^ Lindsay, David (20 June 2001). "Farsons Group improves its financial results". The Business Times. http://www.businesstoday.com.mt/2001/0620/top1.html. Retrieved 16 February 2010. 
2. ^ "Burger King celebrates its 10th Anniversary in Malta with charity event" (Press release). 27 May 2005. http://www.farsons.com/page.asp?n=newsdetails&i=4684. Retrieved 16 February 2010. 
3. ^ "KFC ‘lands’ at Malta International Airport" (Press release). 16 June 2009. http://www.farsons.com/page.asp?n=newsdetails&i=5037. Retrieved 16 February 2010. 
4. ^ "Pizza Hut expands to Bugibba" (Press release). 21 December 2004. http://www.farsons.com/page.asp?n=newsdetails&i=4176. Retrieved 16 February 2010. 
5. ^ "Fifth year of T.G.I. Friday's in Malta" (Press release). 8 February 2004. http://www.farsons.com/page.asp?n=newsdetails&i=2061. Retrieved 16 February 2010. 

External links

• Cisk Lager's Official website
• RateBeer
• The "Farson Groups of Companies" website, including Company history