Dr Sant was accompanied by MLP secretary general Jason Micallef. Foster Clark’s employs 250 employees who are spread over three plants. More than 90 per cent of the company’s produce is exported to the Middle East, the Arabian Gulf and Africa.

The company exports 1,800 containers per year. A curious fact is that that Foster Clark’s imports three times the amount of sugar that is consumed in Malta and Gozo every year.

The plant which Dr Sant visited is the newest one and was opened when he was prime minister in 1997. The company has been operating in Malta since 1967.

Dr Sant said that factories such as Foster Clark’s needed to be sustained due to the jobs they create. “Foster Clark’s is a model of how Maltese companies should be run if they want to expand,” he said.