Company profile: P. Cutajar & Co

Family businesses that survive and thrive into the fifth generation are a rare breed. One of those is Mriehel-based P. Cutajar & Co. Ltd, which is this year celebrating its 140th anniversary.

"This is a big achievement," managing director Tony Zammit Cutajar told The Sunday Times last week, "a credit to previous generations who made it a point to divorce family matters from the business."

The company has a code of practice that governs entrance to the business by family members, the involvement of the family in the business, the involvement of the company's executives in matters outside the business, succession, and how the company is run.

"We aim to avoid conflicts now and in the future," he said. "We have non-family members on the board - of the eight directors, two, including the chairman, Helga Ellul, are non-family members.

"Family members have to set an example. As managing director I am an employee of the company on a fixed term contract and I am answerable to the board of directors."

Another ingredient in a successful family business is the ability to, as Mr Zammit Cutajar put it, "prune the tree" in terms of which family members work for the company. "I keep a tight ship and it is also important not to lose sight of the company's vision and mission statement - 'Building profitable relationships'."

This is directed at five key elements: its customers, everyone in the company, its suppliers, the community at large and its shareholders. P. Cutajar & Co is committed to listening to its customers, "building enduring and mutually profitable relationships".

It is committed to reaching high quality standards in meeting customers' needs, servicing orders promptly, while maintaining a commitment to try constantly to reduce costs to maintain competitive prices.

Everyone in the company is recognised as an individual and respected for their dignity. The company rewards efficient performance and promotes a work ethic that encourages its people to assume a share of responsibility for the company's success and good name.

P. Cutajar & Co aims to enhance long-term "partnership" relations with its suppliers, meeting their strategic objectives and achieving a reasonable level of profitability. It aims to be a good corporate citizen, supporting charities and other causes and protecting the environment.

Finally, it is committed to providing an attractive return on investment to the shareholders, continually reviewing the content and structure of the business, adapting it to meet changing market conditions and taking initiatives to create new business.

Employing just under 70 people, P. Cutajar & Co is involved in the importation of fast-moving consumer goods and their distribution. Still, as Mr Zammit Cutajar observed: "I am constantly on the lookout for new opportunities both in Malta and abroad and recently returned from Australia where I was examining joint venture possibilities."

The European Union does provide opportunities, Mr Zammit Cutajar said, although Maltese businesses tend to be too inward-looking, trying to defend their patch. "I am sure the Maltese business companies have enough drive and talent to do what they do in Malta outside Malta and to do it successfully."

P. Cutajar & Co was founded by Paul Cutajar in 1865. Five years earlier, aged 17, he had started a private trading business, importing wheat and cereals. He was also active in the coal trade, buying a steamer, Nave Elena, for the purpose.

The firm expanded rapidly and Mr Cutajar negotiated several distribution agreements, two of which, with Benedictine in 1886 and Martini & Rossi in 1880, still exist today. When Mr Cutajar died in 1897, he left the business to his nephew, Arthur Zammit Cutajar, whose father, Francesco Zammit, administered for a decade since Arthur was too young.

In 1905 P. Cutajar & Co was appointed exclusive distributor for Dewar's Scotch Whisky, which it still represents. The company's main focus in the first part of the 20th century was in the ship agency business. According to Malta & Gibraltar (1915), it was the largest local steamship agent in 1913.

Between the two world wars, P. Cutajar concluded an agreement with the American company Eastman Kodak (1937), which it still represents today, operating four photo shops trading under the Realfoto/ Kodak Digital World brand.

When Arthur passed away in 1958, his three sons Alfred, Francis and George succeeded him in the business, becoming the first directors when the firm became a limited liability company that same year. From the Sixties, the company changed focus to its current orientation.

New brands were added to its portfolio, including Canon cameras (1961), Ferrero chocolates (1967) and Lavazza coffee (1987). More recently other brands were added: J.P. Chenet wines, Highland Spring mineral waters, Pasqua and Bersano wines, Gonzalez Byass sherries, Pellito nuts and Lexar digital media.

A photo-finishing laboratory was established at the company's Valletta offices in 1968. This moved with the rest of the company to purpose-built premises in Mriehel in 1985, where its warehouses and offices are centralised, enabling its distribution process to be cost effective. Since the 1970s it has manufactured a range of maintenance and car care products under the Solvit label.

The major initiative of P. Cutajar & Co in its 140th anniversary year was to sponsor, through Din l-Art Helwa, the restoration of Santa Marija Battery on Comino. Every year it supports various charitable causes and this year will be no exception. "We believe in corporate social responsibility and playing by the rules," he said.

Within the local importation and distribution sphere Mr Zammit Cutajar believes there is scope for amalgamation. "There is a lot of duplication," he said. "The way ahead is to set up partnerships with companies of our size to counter the 'threat' of European giants moving into our market."

"Businesses have to keep abreast of new technology and also to the changing market situation. Liberalisation, which opens up opportunities, also increases 'threats' to organisations like ours through increased competition. So you have to be much more focused and keep a competitive cost base."

Concluding, Mr Zammit Cutajar said: "The company has, over the years, evolved into a major play in Malta's commercial sector and we are determined to retain our position in the years to come."