There is room for some more automation to make its way into winemaking in Malta, ‘but it’s hard’ to do on the vineyard side of things, Marsovin CEO Jeremy Cassar told WhosWho.mt.

While Mr Cassar believes that there is room for some more automation in bottling facilities, when it comes to vineyards, he said that robotic harvesters are very expensive “and they're not that advanced.”

“I'm not talking about harvesters for fruit and vegetables. I'm talking about vineyards, it's different.” They do exist, he said, but they’re still “far behind.”

“Automation, as always, will come much later than anywhere else, as Malta tends to follow many years later. If opportunities arise to automate, then why not?”

He believes that automation is needed in the sector, highlighting the difficulty in finding people to work in it.

“We use our own viticulturists and the knowledge that we have. Finding people is very hard. We tend to employ almost every person who is interested in working in viticulture with us, who can do it. If anyone's looking to work in viticulture, we're happy to look at them, because we are planting more vineyards.

He said that Marsovin recently planted another 10 tumoli of organic estate for white wine.

Mr Cassar said his company has expansion plans, even though it's tough finding people. “We never give up, and that's the spirit with which we approach things."

He said that Marsovin employs two-full time viticulturists and two-full-time winemakers, and that it produces around 60 per cent of Maltese wines.

Asked whether the company has any foreign expansion plans, he indicated that its focus is on local expansion.

“We tend to have an under production for the local market as it is. We try to work as closely as possible with our clients in Malta,” he said, noting that demand is greater than supply.

“We've got to be able to give Malta priority over the export, which is what we do. That's our position. Our expansion has come in the form of a new winery, which we're close to completing. In a few months' time it should be ready, but that's another story to itself.”