Everybody in Malta must have heard of the Magro Brothers company in Gozo.

They have come a long way since their grandfather used to sell produce at the market in Savina Square in the 1880s.

John Magro, who took me around the complex in Xewkija, told me that his children are now the fourth generation of Magros to work in the company. His grandfather, and then his father and his brothers started off by being ‘kumpraturi’. Those were the days of barter: they used to get produce from the farmers, take it to Malta and get various items in return, such as agricultural tools, utensils for the home, etc.

Travel to Malta in those days was a laborious and risky business. It took a day to get to Valletta and another day to get back. So a trip to Malta could take anything from three days upwards.

In 1916, the three Magro brothers set up a company. Little by little they ventured into new areas of business, such as import and export.

Many people associate Magro Brothers with tomato processing, but few know this was not what the company originally intended to do. Those were the years immediately before and after World War II, and the company intended to go into the production of cheeselets and other dairy products.

In those days, farmers collected what unsold milk they had and took it to the kamra tan-nar there was in every village. There, they heated the milk and from it produced cheese and other products.

But the British authorities of the time were fighting against brucellosis which was caused by untreated milk and so the selling of milk on doorsteps was banned. The Milk Marketing Undertaking was set up and was given a monopoly in order to have proper controls and checks on the selling of milk.

In the meantime, however, Magro Brothers had purchased machinery to process milk. They had made a huge investment and now they could not even use it.

This was when someone suggested that they could retool the machinery and process tomatoes – which is where the long-standing association of the company with tomato growing began.

They persuaded the Gozitan farmers to begin growing tomatoes and bought their crops from them. The cultivation of tomatoes is still the largest farmed crop in Malta and Gozo, and in July and August, at the peak of the harvest season, the Magro Brothers complex is very busy processing the tomatoes into cans of pulp, juice, tomato paste, ketchup and sauces.

Tomatoes grown out-of-doors are very different from tomatoes grown indoors or in greenhouses. The tomatoes used by Magro Brothers, especially in Gozo, are still grown in open fields and sun-ripened – which means they are very juicy and sweet and this flavour is in turn reflected in the sauces made from them. Around 10,000 tons of tomatoes are processed every year.

Over the years, apart from supplying the local market, Magro Brothers also began to export large quantities of tomato ketchup to Europe, Africa and Australia. The UK and Irish markets are the biggest markets for the company, which produces for leading supermarket brand names such as Asda, Sainsbury and Musgrave.

Over the years, the company has branched off into other areas of food processing and recently, closing the historic circle, it has come back to its first love – milk products.

Nowadays, the company has a modern plant in Xewkija which it has turned into a food village with cheese-making occupying a central role. Visitors to the complex (they are welcomed at all times and can roam around at will) can see the modern cheese-making centre, based on the same technique as used in the past, but in modern hygienic conditions.

The range on offer includes the traditional Gozitan cheeselets as well as fresh cottage ricotta, Pekorin cheese and gourmet yoghurts.

In recent years, the company has branched very successfully into gourmet foods with the creation of the Savina brand. Savina takes the customer back to the origins and roots of the family concern.

It is an exclusive, up-market brand that has attracted some excellent customers, from Prince Philip – who every year receives a special hamper from the company and who has time and again shown his appreciation – to Pope Benedict himself, through the happy coincidence that he has a secretary who hails from Gozo.

At the Savina Creativity Centre in the complex, visitors are able to watch the staff at work. Depending on the season, they can watch the infusion of oils and vinegars, the pressing of sun-dried figs and the production of a range of antipasti and sun-dried tomatoes in oil, succulent fruit jams and pure Gozitan honey. One can also find the latest innovations from the Sor Serafina range, named after an old nun who was a distant relative of the family, which includes traditional Gozitan delicacies and sweets.

The Magro Food Village is the first complex in Malta to offer an all-round food experience. It can also offer, on request, a hands-on cooking class with professional chefs who will show visitors how to make their own cheeselets and delicious jams and chutneys, and how to prepare infused olive oils and vinegars.

The complex can also be used by companies for team-building activities. Facilities include three (animated) cows so that teams can compete against each other in the milking of the cows. Or they can have their own tomatina, using non-staining balls instead of real tomatoes.

The Magro Food Village is on the hop-on, hop-off bus route and visitors are welcome at all times. Admission is free, but the cookery class, as well as the team-building experiences, come at a small fee.