Fruitas buys delivery service for expanding basket of goods

Leading food and beverage operator Fruitas Holdings Inc. has signed a deal to acquire 100 percent of CocoDelivery, which the newly listed firm plans to expand and turn into a unified delivery platform for various brands under the group.

CocoDelivery, initially launched in October 2018, currently delivers fresh coconut water supplied by Fruitasgroup Inc. It is 99.99-percent owned by Lester Yu, who is also Fruitas’ founder, president and chief executive.

“We look forward to #8COCO (or #82626) being the default contact number for Filipinos to order fresh and healthy products for themselves, family and friends. The objective of this acquisition is to deliver products which will nourish our customers’ overall wellness at the convenience of their own homes, place of work or any desired location,” Yu said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday.

Once folded into Fruitas, CocoDelivery is intended to ramp up its delivery channel beyond coconut juice. It will include Fruitas fresh fruit juices, Buko Loco 100-percent pure coconut water, Soy & Bean soy products, De Original Jamaican patties, Sabroso Lechon and more.

In making this acquisition, Fruitas is betting on a boom in demand for food delivery services amid rising consumer affluence.

Fruitas, which trades on the local stock exchange under the ticker FRUIT, said it “expects to immediately realize synergies from this acquisition, maximizing the utilization of the combined motorcycle fleet of FRUIT and CocoDelivery and consolidating the marketing of FRUIT’s delivery service.”

Selected stores within the group’s network of over 1,000 stores are intended to serve as hubs for fulfilling delivery orders. The #8COCO hotline will be initially available from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Metro Manila.

Fruitas said it would “leverage its years of successful logistics experience from the delivery of both raw and finished materials to its own and franchised stores nationwide.”

From a single Fruitas stall opened in 2002, the group ended 2019 with 1,068 stores across the country and over 20 brands in its portfolio. It is currently valued by the stock market at P3.54 billion. INQ