Cold storage facility to open in Calbayog City

CALBAYOG CITY, Samar, July 24  -- A cold storage facility will rise in this city to help agriculture and fishery producers prolong the shelf life of perishable goods.

Glacier Megafridge Group President Arturo Yan said on Tuesday they are eyeing to open the new facility in this city on October 1.

The company initially invested PHP50 million to build the cold storage facility. Construction will start next week and will be completed after two months.

If the investment becomes successful, the company may also construct a dry storage facility in the city, said Yan.

The cold storage will open with a 500 pallet space that can store marine and agricultural products. The design is a modular plant which makes it easy for expansion once demands for the cold storage facility increases.

“The scale is not that huge like in Metro Manila, but then again we need to put investment outside Metro Manila, which is part of our corporate responsibility to help our small producers grow,” Yan told reporters.

Part of the strategy in putting investments in regions is to look for local business partner capable of helping them in managing the business, marketing and on the socio-political management.

Yan added that they chose Calbayog City because it is a strategic place to become a distribution hub of key industry players of processed foods, marine, poultry and meat products and for providing support to local production of perishable products.

“But we may also expand our investment to other parts of Samar province like in Catbalogan City, but it will mainly depend on the decision of our partners,” Yan said.

The presence of the cold storage facility will encourage more local entrepreneurs to create products and brands that can supply the market outside the region and even export abroad.

After the construction of their cold storage facility in Calbayog, the company is eyeing to open storage facilities in General Santos City, Cagayan De Oro City, and Urdaneta City in Pangasinan.

Glacier currently operates cold storage facilities in Metro Manila, Bicol Region and Panay Island.

Established in 2005, the company is the leading build, own and operate cold chain service provider in the Philippines with five cold storage facilities.

It is a fusion of two companies with more than 30 years of experience in logistics, refrigeration engineering, warehousing distribution, and strategic management. (RTA/PNA)