A cold chain warehouse seems an unlikely pick for a technology feature, but when one of Cebu’s top businessmen points out this imposing and mysterious edifice on Cebu’s northbound Nautical Highway in the Municipality of Consolacion, and says “That entire building doesn’t require lights inside. Fully automated robotics runs in the dark, managed fully by AI”, then it must be pursued.
Driving into Big Blue Logistics compound, immediately I noticed that everything was exceptionally clean. There were very few staff for what one would expect of a typical Filipino warehouse operation. Trucks and trailers came in and out in relaxed but rapid succession. No trash, no spitting, no milling around. The efficiency and order seemed almost… Nordic.
For the past 21 years, Big Blue Logistics Corporation has run and quietly expanded into one of the largest public refrigerated warehousing operations in the country, specializing wholly in food storage.
Big Blue CEO, Steve “Bong” Castillo walked me through the basics of Philippine cold chain logistics, why he invested in German automation, and he walked me straight into the largest -20°C refrigerator in the Philippines.
Robotics everywhere
Each truckload comes in, stacked onto pallets, wrapped securely by robotic arms, barcode tagged, assigned temp-controlled shelving, in the dark. The main warehouse area holds dozens of rows of steel shelves easily a kilometer deep and up to 10 levels high. All serviced by robotic arms, and next to no human intervention after the unloading.
AI analyzes and decides when and how much food quantity to recommend to its clients to use first considering multiple data points not just expiration dates.
Castillo says, “We operate 7 warehouse locations in Cebu. We only do food storage; we do not do pharmaceutical refrigeration as the requirements for that are completely different.
So, we cater to a wide range of holding temperature requirements. Much like your refrigerator at home, you have a freezer, a crisper, where you place soft drinks versus vegetables, or wine. Here at Big Blue, we also have different compartments/rooms for different kinds of food.
Kimchi is very pungent and it’s holding temperature is 2°C. So is that piece of cake. But you certainly can’t put them together due to odor absorption.”
Food compartmentalization is required to cover all aspects of food safety from simple sanitation and hygiene and biosecurity.
Biosecurity is where larger players in food storage like Big Blue can significantly help in the transfer of diseases from place to place, not just from outside the country but across provinces. Castillo continues “We have to anticipate against African swine flu, avian flu. We are part of the biosecurity ‘border control of the country’ against the spread of these diseases.”
Enduring partnerships with government
Big Blue deals primarily with four government agencies including the Department of Agriculture, the Bureau of Fish and Aquatic Resources, Imports and even the Department of Finance itself.
Because of the sheer volume and value of the food entrusted to Big Blue, these government agencies have assigned dedicated personnel for frequent coordination or even full time, on-site personnel to monitor everything from food safety protocols, permits and the monitoring of supply volume to pricing concerns.
National food security
The impact of Big Blue’s operations is massive. Big Blue, essentially hold the equivalent food supply of 15.33 million meals. If you do the math, how long can that feed, say, the entire island of Cebu?
It’s data points like that, and the fact that this facility holds roughly 55 million kilograms of viable food supply on any given day, the equivalent amount of food 1.84 million household refrigerators could preserve consistently; or the fact that the entire operation, lights and refrigeration already runs daylight hours using only solar-generated energy, makes Big Blue truly the biggest, most innovative refrigeration system in the entire country.
Continuing innovation on all fronts
Aside from German-grade AI data management, analysis, customer management handling and fully automated pallet processing, storage and retrieval, Bong Castillo, who has had to invest in his own and his personnel’s training in world class robotic cold chain operational design, equipment and facilities, continues to expand his Zone 4, cat 5 facility in Consolacion, Cebu as well as other upcoming locations across the country, he does so with the objective of a fully off-grid operation, with investments in solar batteries and other measures in sustainable energy systems.
The man on the street scarcely realizes that the reasonably cheap prices for his every day food is largely influenced and held stable by companies like Big Blue.
Because of the sheer amount of food supply responsibly held by Big Blue, local grocery stores are able to predict sales, supply and order accordingly.
With little fanfare, public trust is built in the consistency and quality of the cold chain data that Big Blue AI provides each of its clients daily; and with that consistency, predictability of data and fully automated storage handling, there is ZERO wastage. Yes, ZERO.
AI handles notice of expiration data for end clients and based in inventory retrieval trends, suggests a strategy, schedule and alert to the end client as to when certain batches need to be exited. By product, by variation, by company, by overall ops.
It is certainly this precision of product data and its investments in AI and robotic automation that makes a company like Big Blue of interest to trade finance entities. Investors court Big Blue on the daily, but Castillo is more focused in the meantime on his team and system’s growth and expansion based on daily operational excellence, and not in response to stakeholder pressure.
The demand and growth of the cold chain infrastructure in Cebu and the rest of the country is aggressive and underway. New players and partners in last mile cold chain logistics are coming up. Watch this space.
Lastly, Big Blue is a world-class, formidable, slightly intimidating service. I asked their CEO “how can the small food retailer or restaurant owner have access to this quality of cold chain logistics? What is your minimum storage quantity? Is Big Blue’s big bad ass AI and robotics SME friendly?”
Castillo, “Yes, we accept a minimum of even ONE pallet”. Food quality for all at Big Blue.
