Meat processors, Aboitiz seal power deal

Four of the largest members of the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (Pampi) signed power supply agreements with Aboitiz Power Corporation to support their operations and the expanding meat processing industry of the country.

The four companies—Foodsphere Inc. (CDO), Virginia Food, Inc., LIIP Food Processors Inc. (Century Pacific) and GenOSI (McDonald’s)— signed up for a combined 12 megawatts of capacity supply from AboitizPower retail electricity suppliers (RES) Advent Energy and Aboitiz Energy Solutions in a ceremony on Feb. 2 in Taguig City.

Foodsphere president Jerome Ong said it signed up with AboitizPower because the latter is one of the most experienced energy retailers in the market.

Virginia Food President Felix Tiukinhoy, meanwhile, pointed out that competitive rates will allow companies to better manage costs.

“Because of the very competitive rate that AboitziPower offered, we are able to have predictable power cost over time,” said Tiukinhoy, who is also president of Pampi.

AboitizPower executive vice president and chief operating officer for corporate services Luis Miguel Aboitiz said the group was looking forward to a stronger partnership with its new customers and Pampi as an organization.

“We are proud to be partners with an industry that is basically woven into the Filipino lifestyle and an industry that employs a lot of Filipinos,” he said.

AboitizPower COO for its coal group, Sebastian Lacson, said the biggest advantage of the firm was its diverse portfolio, which gives it the ability to respond to the needs of the customers while maintaining a competitive price.

AboitizPower operates geothermal, large hydro, run-of-river hydro, and solar power plants.

The company also operates a number of coal power plants for baseload capacity and oil-fired power plants for reliable peaking supply.

Pampi and its more than 50 company-members account for more than P300 billion in revenues and provide jobs to more than 300,000 Filipinos.