Total logistics service provider Royal Cargo is investing about $25 million this year to expand its cold chain distribution business in the Philippines, including the construction of a P1-billion facility in Plaridel, Bulacan to serve as its hub in the north.
This is on top of the company’s expanded Laguna cold storage inaugurated on June 15, and which cost the company P300 million. The second phase of the South Luzon hub, located in Laguna International Industrial Park, added 4,000 square meters of floor area and 6,000 palette positions to Phase One’s 4,000 square meters and 4,000 palette positions. Each palette can handle around 1 ton of product.
Royal Cargo currently has two other cold chain warehouses in South Luzon.
Apart from Bulacan, Royal Cargo is eyeing cold chain distribution facilities in Cebu, Iloilo, and Davao, according to group founder and global chief executive officer Michael Raeuber.
At the sidelines of the expanded Laguna facility inauguration, Raeuber told PortCalls he saw big potential for investing in cold chain facilities, with the country lacking professional packing facilities and infrastructure to support transportation of seafood and agricultural produce.
He noted the country’s spoilage factor is still relatively high due to lack of proper refrigeration and distribution.
The Laguna facility mainly caters to frozen stuff such as meat and concentrated juices but Royal Cargo Combined Logistics, Inc. Operations Manager Filiberto Opulencia said they also plan to handle ice cream and halal foods.
The Laguna facility is the first cold storage in the country to be fitted in 2015 with solar panels; it partially runs on solar power during daytime, saving the company 20% in electricity, according to Raeuber.
The Plaridel, Bulacan facility, meanwhile, will break ground soon for completion by the last quarter of 2017. It will be able to accommodate 10,000 palette positions.
Raeuber said Plaridel is a strategic location as it is near the North Luzon Expressway and is not too far from the Port of Manila.
Aside from warehouses, Royal Cargo is investing in equipment to complement services of its cold stores. It has acquired trucks and reefer containers fitted with gensets that will be deployed in its cold chain hubs in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao through vessels or roll-on/roll-off ships.
Royal Cargo CEO Elmer Sarmiento noted that unlike other cold chain operators that only provide warehousing services, Royal Cargo offers total supply chain solutions from importation, storage, and last-mile delivery of products to stores and markets.
Royal Cargo is also involved in business process outsourcing, clinical trial depot, customs clearance and brokerage, domestic and international freight forwarding, ecozone and freeport logistics, liquid transportation, projects and heavylift, shipping agencies, moving and storage, and warehousing and distribution. Its subsidiaries include LIMA Logistics Corporation, Royal Cargo Lines, Royal Global Services, Inc., and TMW Express Worldwide. – Roumina Pablo
