Cortas, Company

Upon graduating from the American University of Beirut with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, Emile Cortas went to work in the university’s alumni office. Weekends, he would travel to the family home in the mountain village of Brummana. One such weekend, his mother, who was well known for her home-made jams, gave him a couple of jars of her apricot jam for his business school professor and friend, a Professor Nicoley. The Professor was so impressed that he advised Emile to go into the business. That summer, Emile helped his mother preserve the apricot crop, which together they packaged to present to friends and prospective customers. Their summer experiment resulted in orders, and the business was born. Emile left his post at the university to build his own factory, as well as his knowledge of the jam-making business. In 1926, he apprenticed in Dublin with the Lambs of Ireland, famous jam-makers and old Cortas family friends. Upon his return to Lebanon, Emile imported the first of many top quality machines from Britain and started the Cortas Canning Company. A few years later, Emile’s younger brother Michel, with a degree in chemistry from the American University of Beirut, joined Emile in the business. Emile managed business affairs while Michel took over factory production. As business grew, Cortas Bros., as the company became known, began distributing its products in Lebanon, Syria and Palestine. The product line expanded to include tomato paste, vegetables and fruit-based beverage syrups. During World War 11, Cortas had earned such a reputation for quality that the British Army, with a reputation of its own for being meticulous, commissioned Cortas Bros. to supply marmalade to British troops stationed in the area. The factory expanded, placing workers on a three-shift schedule, in order to satisfy demand. In the years just after the end of the war, Michel Cortas earned a master’s degree in chemistry. Around the same time, the product line expanded further and Cortas opened a tin factory in order to manufacture its own cans. Business continued to thrive, but not without challenges. Political uncertainty, starting in 1948, unsettled the area and limited industrial growth. A tomato paste factory that Cortas had set up in Homs, Syria, was forced to close due to the upheaval. In 1974, Emile and the company lost an innovative chemist and dedicated manager with the passing of his brother, Michel. The following year, war broke out in Lebanon. During the next 15 years, civil strife badly damaged the country’s economy, as well as the Cortas factory. The 1970s also brought the first change in management. Founder Emile, now in his seventies, became chairman, with long-time sales manager Fadlo Khauli moving into the position of general manager. Fadlo ‘s vision included opening new markets in the USA, Canada and Australia, where numerous war-displaced Lebanese had emigrated.