Vernons Today
For over 50 years, Vernons has been actively involved in food production and imports. Today we steadfastly retain that position, while clearly looking towards the trends of the future.
Vernons is run by a dedicated young team, and led by a third generation Borg director, Dominic. Just as his father and grandfather anticipated consumer trends to deliver quality and value to their clients, so Dominic is driving the company forwards with innovation and expansion, to continue delivering on the collective family vision.
History
Vernons has been a family concern since it first opened its doors in the 1950s. The company – then linked to the Borg Cold Stores Group – was originally launched by Valhmor Borg, who pioneered in various industries. It was called Vernon Foods.
In 1969 it was bought and taken over by Martin Borg, Valhmor's son. Back then the company produced a limited range of tomato products, including kunserva (tomato spread). In the years that followed, though, Martin expanded the company’s operations and moved it from its original location to its current base in Mriehel, where the product line grew to include canned peas, corned beef and other tomato-based goods.
In 1999, Martin turned his attention to food importation and introduced a variety of own and international brands to the local market, and has since expanded substantially. This has been very much in-line with the Borg’s vision to work with leading international brands and provide a greater choice of products to their consumers.
Today that same Mriehel factory is still in operation. Its focus remains tomato products, as well as sauces, condiments and items adapted to the specific needs of the catering industry. Additionally we offer pre-packed sliced goods, and we are developing our convenience range even further.
Vernons is now run by the third generation of the Borg family, Dominic Borg. He took over the management of the company in 2010 and continues to diversify its product ranges to mirror current trends and consumer demands.
Mission
We make it our mission to provide excellent value, quality products to the local food industry.
Whilst we are proud to have retained our focus on our core founding brands, we continue to adapt to an ever changing market and consumer trends in which we constantly strive to evolve and compete.
Suppliers
We consider our suppliers to be an extension of our close-knit in-house team. In fact we've worked with some of them since the very early days of the company. Our suppliers provide us with a variety of services and raw materials, including the ingredients for some of our foods and the components for part of our packaging.
We choose to work with companies that understand our market and that can adapt to the unique challenges it presents. Additionally, as part of our focus on CSR, we strive to select our worldwide suppliers based on their approach to sustainably-sourced products, particularly when this concerns tuna fish and other seafood.
Distribution
Our distribution arm is one of the busiest departments within the company – servicing around 700 clients every week.
The ambient and chilled truck fleet is able to cover Malta on a 24-hour basis, ensuring that our clients receive their goods within just one day of placing their order. This way we're able to manage both the food service and retail markets, while also fulfilling on-the-spot orders for our Fleur Rouge convenience range.
Additionally, our bakery division runs a dedicated service supplying Maltese bakeries.
Facilities
Vernons operates from a combined area covering 8,000sqm and employing over 50 people in the heart of Mriehel, Malta. This location is split into dedicated departments for its factory, office space and warehouse. The warehouse is then divided into different units to house our flour, ambient products and chilled foods, all of which have particular storage requirements.
In addition to this, our newly-acquired facility, previously owned by Zammit & Cachia, is run as a separate entity with its own warehouse and controlled conditions for the proper storage of dried fruit and nuts.