Δευτέρα 4 Ιουλίου 2016

The Greek beer of Africa



(abstract from the book "The Greek community in Mozambique")

Μichael Perantonakis, usually known as Cretikos because of his origin from the island of Crete, immigrated to Mozambique in the late 19th century. Although he intended to work in the mines of South Africa, he settled in Lourenço Marques where he started to sell bananas. Then he started a grocery store, and at the end of the first decade of the 20th century, he began to sell drinking water in the neighbourhoods of Lourenço Marques. During this period, the Greek merchant noticed the lack of ice, which was necessary to preserve the fish and decided to get involved in the production field. 


In 1915, he founded the company ‘Vitória’ and in 1916, he erected an ice factory with the name ‘Vitória Cold Storage and Ice Factory, Ltd’. It was located on the west side of the city, in the Praia do Polana, in front of the Avenue of the Republic and opposite the ‘Olympia’ café and fish market. In the following years, Perantonakis expanded his business in the bottling of mineral water and the production of soft drinks. Since he decided to enter also into the brewery field, he travelled to Germany to consult experts on the production method. In 1932, Perantonakis used a European recipe and having followed high standards at all the stages of the production, he produced a beer under the trade name ‘Laurentina’. 


In 1935, ‘Laurentina’ acquired 50% of the domestic market. During the 1950s and the 1960s, the brewery of Perantonakis implemented strategic alliances and a series of investments in the production sector. In 1959, two new units were erected beside the original plant. The cost of this investment exceeded $200 million. 



The quality of ‘Laurentina was improved and for that reason it won six gold medals in the world beer competition held in Brussels. By the independence of Mozambique in 1975 and the economy policy followed, the brewery were nationalised under the body of ‘SOGERE’ (Sociedad General de Cervejas e Refrigerantes de Mocambique SARL). In 1997 the company was acquired by the French BGI-Castel and the Irish Guinness, and in 2001 it was sold to the SABMiller.