Panabo City, Davao del Norte — The cold storage facility being built inside the Floirendo-owned Anflo Industrial Estate here will start operations by the first quarter of 2025.

GMAC Logitech Refrigeration Corp., the joint venture formed by Ayala Corp. unit AC Logistics and Glacier Megafridge Inc., is currently constructing its second cold storage facility in Mindanao.

“The storage facility here would cater to almost anything perishable, from vegetables and fruits to meat products. The products would be of two kinds: one to supply the local needs of our clients, and two, products that we would be exporting,” said Glacier Megafridge CEO Arturo Yan.

He said most of the operations in the upcoming facility here would be powered by artificial intelligence (AI) “to ensure the integrity of its refrigeration temperature level as well as to determine the inventory level in the facility.”

Nona Torres, chief commercial officer of AC Logistics, said GMAC would expand in areas “where there is gap in the cold chain, especially in food storage, to prevent food spoilage.”

For his part, Yan said the joint venture is keen on creating “a cold chain corridor” in the next five years.

“Our goal is to bring the raw materials to where they must be consumed,” he added. “Our goal is to expand from where we are now and to keep the distance from our competitors, we have to build more.”

He said GMAC is looking at Basilan and General Santos City in Mindanao, to Cebu and Bacolod in the Visayas “and all the way up to Northern Luzon, to ensure that the vegetables of Benguet are preserved.”