2GO, the logistics arm of shipping giant
Aboitiz Transport System Corp. will expand its logistics
business by May to Boracay, providing the island’s numerous
hotels and resorts with cold chain service.
Sabin Aboitiz, 2GO president and CEO said
they were able to get some hotels in Boracay and provide them
with their logistics requirements.
"Were launching cold chain in Boracay… That
is going to be LTL (less than truck load) loose cargo, time to
time, time priced and that will be in mid May," he said.
"We want to get all the hotels there, as
possible," Aboitiz said adding that the hotels have a problem in
getting all the fruits, vegetable, meat, chicken to their
hotels.
He explained that at present, all the hotels
are bringing what they need in different ways by themselves.
He further said that that’s where 2GO will
come in, to handle the supply side of the hotels in Boracay.
Instead of bringing a bigger amount, he said
they’re bringing in little pieces from everywhere and the cost
is probably double or triple.
"Like in taxi, you ride another taxi all
going in separate ways and if they ride in a taxi and split the
bill, it’s cheaper. Somebody has to do it for everybody and
that’s what were doing, that’s what LTL means," he said.
Aboitiz said Boracay hotels alone has a
volume of 4 reefer containers a week or about 100 cubic meters a
week of loose cargo.
The requirements of hotels such as vegetables
come from different markets such as Baguio and other provinces.
He said the conservative target of 2GO is to
get clients where they can give value added.
He explained that they are going to remove
the middleman so that the buyer can go directly to the seller
and pay less.
He added that they are confident of growth as
seen by the expansion of its supply chain center in Pasig and
building of a full cold chain area in Pier 18.
The company can not quantify yet the revenue
that they can get out of the cold chain business, as it is
relatively new.
However, they are very optimistic since the
total market for cold chain is P100 billion.
After the company formally launched the cold
chain business, one of its clients— the ice cream manufacturer
in Pampanga, was able to supply ice cream in Iloilo.
He said since they introduced the loose
cargo, their clients which are small tickets can now deliver ice
cream and buy into pieces.
"They can now penetrate and are starting to grow their
market," he said.
