AC Logistics Holdings Corp. plans to develop new cold-chain storage facilities across the country to help with the preservation of agricultural products and crops, ensure best quality of harvests and prevent unnecessary wastage.
AC Logistics president Rene Almendras said in an interview at the sidelines of the recent Management Association of the Philippine general meeting the group was looking to build cold storage facilities and acquire from existing players.
Almendras said developing more logistic projects would be the Ayala Group’s strategy in terms of contributing to the development of the agriculture sector.
He cited data that agriculture spoilage rate is at 40 percent, making local vegetables and meat products more expensive compared with other countries.
“So any improvement in the way we do things and the way we can handle things, including the preservation of our agricultural projects, will help the economy and will help the Filipinos,” Almendras said.
He also noted the huge gap between farmgate price and market price.
“The money is made not in the planting but on the other side. So, we are trying to improve that,” said.
GMAC Logitech Refrigeration Corp. (GMAC), a joint venture between AC Logistics and Glacier Megafridge Inc., opened a new cold chain storage facility in Cagayan De Oro in 2023.
The facility, which can store up to 5,348 industrial pallets, reached 100-percent utilization rate in less than six months of operations on increasing demand from various industries in Northern Mindanao.
Almendras said the group planned to replicate this in other major regions.
AC Logistics, a wholly0owned subsidiary of Ayala Corp., serves as the group’s portfolio company for logistics solutions services providing end-to-end supply chain solutions through its subsidiaries.