Greater disposable incomes and changing lifestyles are influencing the consumption habits of many Filipinos, encouraging more to rely increasingly on frozen goods for their daily needs. Demand for frozen food in the country has been on an upward trend since 2014, with retail sales this year forecast by leading statistics portal Statista[1] to reach about US$1.32 billion.
The steady increase in demand for frozen goods is spurring a similar growth in demand for cold storage facilities, according to leading end-to-end logistics solutions provider Royal Cargo, Inc.
“As the Philippine population continues to grow, demand for additional cold storage facilities nationwide increases as well. But instead of just cold storage spaces, what we need more of now is integrated cold supply chain systems capable of providing uninterrupted logistics chains. These systems ensure clean and proper handling of frozen goods to preserve their high quality. These are very important, especially now that Christmas is just around the corner and demand from supermarkets and groceries is a lot higher in preparation for the holidays,” Royal Cargo Group CEO Michael Raeuber shared.
Royal Cargo is geared up to fill the gap between the need for uninterrupted cold supply chain systems and the increase in demand for cold storage facilities. The company’s recently inaugurated cold chain facility in Bulacan is built to provide continuous cold supply chain processes in anticipation of greater demand for frozen goods, especially during the Christmas season.
“To ensure that the frozen goods for this year remain in good quality, our North Hub offers different cold chain services for the different needs of our clients. We have 14 temperature-controlled rooms with two blast-freezing rooms, an 800-square-meter food processing area and 18 loading bays, 16 of which are for regular goods and two separate bays for Halal and Kosher foods,” Royal Cargo President Elmer Sarmiento said.
Built on 6.6 hectares of land with 15,000 total pallet positions, this world-class facility is Royal Cargo’s largest cold chain warehouse to date. The new warehouse mainly serves the food industry but its dry facility can accommodate other products requiring storage and distribution. The freight station can store cargoes and containers. The hub is also supported by more than 300 brand-new units of refrigerated trucks and reefer vans of all sizes to meet the varying distribution requirements of clients.
A glimpse of the North Hub
Strategically located along the Plaridel Bypass Road in Plaridel, Bulacan, the Royal Cargo North Hub comprises a cold storage, a dry warehouse and a container freight station. The hub serves as the pick-up and drop-off area of goods for distribution to customers in Mega Manila and North Luzon.
Inside the hub’s cold storage facility, Royal Cargo employees clear out goods at the interior loading bay. A designated lift in the area takes in the goods immediately to maintain their freshness. Proper handling and maintenance checks are also observed to ensure the high quality of the deliveries.
The cold storage facility also has temperature-controlled rooms. These can be programmed depending on the required temperature of the stored products.
The Royal Cargo North Hub boasts not only state-of-the-art cold storage rooms but also Blast Freezing (BF) technology, which helps keep the stored goods fresh until they reach the consumers.
Recognizing the country’s potential to become a major logistics hub by 2020, Royal Cargo is committed to developing world-class yet eco-friendly logistics facilities such as the North Hub. The hub has its own wastewater treatment plant. The solar panel system installed earlier this year is rated at 1.2MWp and is expected to generate 1.7 million kW/h of electricity annually and will avoid 1.027 million kilos of carbon dioxide emission per year.
Royal Cargo’s North Hub hopes to help companies expand their business reach across the country and even serve new markets in the Asia-Pacific without the large capital cost.
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About Royal Cargo Philippines
Royal Cargo provides high-quality and cost-efficient specialized logistics solutions in the fields of International and Domestic Freight Forwarding, Supply Chain/Logistics, Projects and Heavylift, Business Process Outsourcing, Customs Brokerage, Liquid Transportation, Shipping Agencies and Trucking services, and logistics solutions for Clinical Research and Development – with owned equipment and facilities.
Royal Cargo’s head office is located in the Philippines. The company currently operates in 13 other countries: the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Guam, Palau, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
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