(Excerpt from the book ‘The Greek
community in Mozambique’)
Μichael Perantonakis, usually known as Cretikos,
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 owned a grocery store and in the 1910s, he began to
sell drinking water in the neighbourhoods of Lourenço Marques. Soon, Perantonakis
established a factory where he produced mineral water and soft drinks. Later, he
decided to enter the brewery field and for that reason he travelled to Germany.
In 1932, he produced a beer under the trade name ‘Laurentina’. The name of the
beer came from the nickname of the inhabitants of the city of Lourenço Marques,
‘laurentinos’ (our fine gentlemen) and ‘laurentinas’ (the lovely ladies).
