Farsons Group yesterday unveiled a new corporate identity which will be shortly rolled out across its diversified operations, Simonds Farsons Cisk plc group chief executive officer Louis A. Farrugia told The Times Business.
It is the first corporate image revamp for Mrieħel-based Farsons - the wide-ranging group spawned from the brewing business established in the 1920s - for two decades.
The group made another important statement this week: in a company announcement on the Malta Stock Exchange on Monday, Simonds Farsons Cisk plc said it had filed an application with the listing authority for the approval of a prospectus for an upcoming €15 million bond issue.
"Any group which operates in a dynamic market environment and which undergoes considerable diversification of its operations feels the need to change the way it wants to project itself with its stakeholders," Mr Farrugia said. "The corporate identity is an intrinsic part of the way a company communicates itself with its various publics. Hence, the need for change."
Mr Farrugia said the project for a new corporate identity was planned independently, but its launch so close to the bond issue was "an added benefit" to the group.
The chief executive explained the design incorporates a modern rendering of the hopleaf and a stylised Neptune's trident, long associated with Farsons. The icon appears alongside the name of each of the group's companies which are now designed in the same colour and font to highlight their belonging to Farsons Group.
The corporate identity was designed by JP Advertising and was selected after an internal evaluation of a number of proposals submitted by three agencies.
"We feel that both the way the icon has been developed, and the colour and style of the font used project a very fresh and modern feel," Mr Farrugia said.
He added that stationery, website design and company flag will sport the new identity immediately. Group companies Farsons Brewers & Bottlers, Quintano Food Importers, EcoPure Beverage Services, FBIC Beverage Importers, Farsonsdirect Beverages & More, Food Chain Restaurants, and Trident Property Management will adopt the new identity in the shortest time possible, Mr Farrugia explained.
"Farsons has always been at the forefront of industry in Malta and it has always had a strategy to meet the market needs of the time," the chief executive officer emphasised. "A change in corporate identity without an updating of its corporate philosophy would be wasteful. The new identity seeks to communicate the diversified sectors which the Farsons Group operates in and the way the group has always kept abreast of the changes."
Proceeds from the planned issue of unsecured and unsubordinated bonds redeemable between June 2017 and June 2020 will be used to finance a bond exchange programme for the 6.6 SFC Bonds 2010-2012 due for redemption in November, and for general financing, particularly the construction of Farsons' new brewhouse.
Late last month, Simonds Farsons Cisk plc's board approved a €14 million investment in a new brewhouse, a quality control laboratory and a water treatment plant earmarked for completion by 2013.