This year, one of Malta’s oldest companies, P. Cutajar & Co Ltd celebrates the 140th anniversary of its foundation. The business remains in the hands of the founding family now in its fifth generation and, while evolving in new directions, it still represents brands it was marketing in its early years such as Martini & Rossi (1880), Benedictine (1886) and Dewar’s (1905) to mention a few.
In 1861, Paul Cutajar, at the tender age of 17, started a private trading business. Business prospered and in 1865 Paul changed the name of the firm to P. Cutajar & Co.
In 1897, following Paul Cutajar’s demise, the business passed on to his nephew, Arthur Zammit Cutajar but since he was too young at the time, his father Francesco Zammit, Paul Cutajar’s brother-in-law, ran the business until 1907.
In the early part of the 20th century, P. Cutajar & Co’s main focus was the ship agency business. In 1913 the company was the largest steamship agent in Malta, according to the book Malta & Gibraltar published by Macmillan Allister in 1915.
In between the two world wars, the company concluded agreements with Eastman Kodak (1937) and has been the Kodak distributor in the Maltese Islands ever since. Arthur Zammit Cutajar passed away in 1958. His sons Alfred, Francis and George took over the business and became the first directors when the firm was turned into a limited liability company in 1958.
The P. Cutajar & Co. Ltd business has now moved away from the ship agency sector. It is focused mainly on the importation and distribution of fast moving consumer goods. Many notable additions were made to the company’s portfolio over the years. Particularly noteworthy are Canon cameras (1961) Ferrero chocolates (1967) and Lavazza coffee (1987). In more recent years the company added JP Chenet Wines, Highland Spring Mineral Waters, Pasqua and Bersano Wines, Gonzalez Byass Sherries, Pellito nuts and Lexar digital media
In 1968, a photo-finishing laboratory was installed on top of the P. Cutajar offices in Valletta. The company remains a leader in the local photo business. It operates four photo shops trading under the Realfoto/Kodak Digital World brand.
Since the late 1970s, it has also manufactured a range of maintenance and car care products under the Solvit label. In the early 1980s, the company realised it had outgrown its premises in Valletta that had served the company since 1908, and it moved to custom-built premises at Mriehel in 1986, which remain its operational base.
Commenting on this event, Tony Zammit Cutajar, managing director of P. Cutajar Group, expressed his satisfaction at the company’s success story achieved through “years of continued market presence and commitment to improvement”.
Mr Zammit Cutajar said: “P. Cutajar & Co Ltd has evolved into a major player in Malta’s commercial sector. This has been possible thanks to our forward-looking strategies as well as to a dedicated and professional workforce. We are extremely confident that our past successes can be repeated in the years to come and we now look forward to the challenges that lie ahead.”
The present management team of the P. Cutajar Group is composed of eight people and includes two fourth generation members of the Cutajar family, and one member of the fifth generation. The board of directors also includes two non-family members one of whom, Helga Ellul, is the chairperson.