Many businesses in Gżira and St Julian’s were forced to throw away stock as a result of power cuts over last weekend, with some having no electricity for over two days.
As was the case last year, July has yet again been dominated by news of long power cuts taking place across both Malta and Gozo. While Enemalta has stated that it has invested great amounts as part of a major upgrade to its distribution network, issues have persisted.
Outages have been reported in different localities, and last weekend it was Gżira and St Julian’s turns to be left in the dark, together with Għasri, Għarb, San Lawrenz and Kerċem in Gozo.
This had a significant impact on businesses, especially in Gżira and St Julian’s, which are commercial and touristic hotspots, especially during the summer time.
Miguel Cachia, Owner of POPP, a craft beer and speciality drinks shop in Gżira, said that the power went out on Friday night and the outage last for almost 24 hours.
“For me as a small business owner, I lost money for this week and month, and I don’t recover from it. The profit margins are so small that it is difficult to do so,” he said.
While he has not quantified the amount of stock left in the blistering summer heat due to fridges not working, Mr Cachia said that he will probably have to throw away quite a significant number of items.
Azzopardi Fisheries Fish Shop / Facebook
Azzopardi Fisheries Fish Shop, also in Gżira, announced on Sunday that it had to remain closed due to the power cuts.
A spokesperson for the fish store said that it was without electricity for around two days.
While everything is now back to normal for Azzopardi Fisheries Fish Shop, the spokesperson said that they had to dispose of plenty of stock. “My fear is that nothing is done over the year to pre-empt these situations,” they added.
A spokesperson for The Oven, a pizzeria located in St Julian’s, remarked that the power went out on Friday evening, with the outage lasting for around 18 hours.
Given the business has multiple outlets in other localities, some of the impact of the power cuts was mitigated as a portion of the stock from the St Julian’s outlet could be transferred to its pizzeria in Mosta.
However, the spokesperson said that “most of the food” was still thrown away.
“We were also impacted by the added workload and difficulties in having to transport the stock, especially given that Mosta is usually very busy and hectic on a Saturday,” they added.
NOVI Gżira, another eatery that has outlets in different localities across Malta, also had to transfer its stock.
NOVI Owners Chris and Maja Vella said that the Gżira outlet was without any electricity for 35 hours.
“Having multiple outlets made it easy to distribute the food to them so we had no waste. Our staff was sent to other outlets due to the added load that was on them which they were not prepared for, and so everything went well,” they said.
They also saw the positive side of these power cuts, stating that the franchise’s new Msida outlet had its “busiest ever night and somehow it was an excellent promotion.”
“Even on Sunday, the Msida outlet remained busy even with the Gżira outlet open. So, we are actually happy with how things worked out, putting Msida in the focus,” the Owners said.
“We understand that this is a little island that grew so big, so fast, and it is difficult for the infrastructure to keep up, especially when there are heat waves. But if anything like this happens again, we will be prepared again but it is much easier when you have more than one outlet. Our sympathy goes to those that suffered due to the power outage,” they added.
The power outage did not only impact food and beverage outlets, but also retail businesses.
Chris Bartolo Burlo, Founder of thrift.mt, a thrift store in Gżira, said that the outage lasted around 24 hours, starting from Friday 9pm.
“For me, it was 10 hours not even being able to open the shutter of my store, as it needs electricity to open up,” he said.
He remarked that closing for an entire Saturday can really leave a significant impact on small businesses.
“All that hard work to actually make it, but then it is taken all away from you because you cannot operate,” Mr Bartolo Burlo added.
He said that he received a lot of texts from people who went to thrift.mt yet found the store closed. “That alone shows the impact it had, not only on day-to-day sales, but also on the reputation of the business,” he continued.
