ABOITIZ Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV) launched a second pilot unit for its recently introduced cold storage venture, Fresh Depot, which seeks to be a physical and digital solutions platform for farmers in the country.
In a statement yesterday, the company said the second pilot unit was launched in Nueva Vizcaya Agricultural Terminal (NVAT), one of the country’s biggest trading centers located in Cagayan Valley.
NVAT serves as a major vegetable trading hub for farmers, traders and buyers from different parts of Luzon. The terminal is presently 85.29 percent owned by the private sector and the remaining 14.71 percent is held by the government.
The NVAT facility followed AEV’s first pilot cold storage unit in Mankayan, Benguet.
Fresh Depot’s pilot unit allows farmers and traders to store their surplus produce and preserve its freshness until it reaches the market which is seen to reduce food wastage and enhance the food supply chain in the country while also providing other services such as establishing a comprehensive database that the government can leverage to enhance agricultural initiatives.
“Filipino farmers face so many challenges, it can be hard to know where to start. When we saw that cold storage technology could prevent around half of their crops from spoiling between harvest and consumption, this was an obvious answer,” said Emilie Sydney-Smith, AEV chief transformation officer, in a statement.
“Getting paid for most, not half, of their production means that farmers will soon be able to invest in other products that can create a virtuous cycle in their prosperity. Digitally tracking the cold storage usage means we can also help the government understand how they can better support farmers,” Smith added.
For its pilot project last March, Fresh Depot partnered with Ecozen Solutions Pvt. Ltd., which is backed by Nuveen global impact fund USA and EXIM Bank of Government of India for the cold storage technology.
AEV used Ecozen’s manufactured modular hybrid cold storage unit designed with climate-smart deep technology to harness solar energy to power the unit and equipped with a proprietary technology for battery-less back-up, which after pre-cooling will keep the fresh produce market-ready 24/7.
AEV tapped Cropin Technology Solutions Pvt. Ltd., which is backed by Impact Assets Singapore for its farm monitoring and management and an easy-to-use, seamless communication solution connecting farmers, agri-businesses and field officers in digitizing farm activities.
Apart from offering modular cold storage, Fresh Depot will also pursue digitizing farmers’ land, planting practices, pre-harvest, harvest and market information to offer advisory services, explore market linkage opportunities and financial inclusion programs, as well as build a database of information that the government can utilize for its programs.
