Former “Giuffrida” distillery

The idea of the distillery in Pozzallo was very good. Located near the station, the brothers Francesco and Pietro Giuffrida from Catania took that plot of land being able to count on a workforce of more than two hundred Pozzallesi. Wealth and prosperity were synonymous for that factory that produced alcohol from the extraction of carob. On that site there were several offices, warehouses, garages and enormous tanks. A concrete tower that still stands today despite the wear and tear of time. The company representative was Mr. Alfio Nicolosi. The factory ceased operations on December 21, 1949. "On the occasion of the Christmas holidays - said the two brothers who owned it - and in order to proceed with a fine-tuning of the systems, it is necessary to suspend production". "Two hundred and thirty workers - writes Paolo Monello in "La memoria e il futuro" (2006) - remained at home and only 62 were retained in service. Twenty days later the Chamber of Labor asked the management of the plant when the opening was planned. The answer was not very convincing: "None of us can establish it with certainty - they replied from the Giuffrida offices - at least as long as the crisis in the alcohol trade lasts".
The factory never reopened, leaving many Pozzallo residents without work. Abandoned for several decades, the building was purchased in the 1980s by the Spadaro brothers from Ispica, owners, to this day, of the ancient and antiquated property.