European industrial giant picks RP for its base in Southeast Asia

European industrial manufacturer, Franke Holding AG has selected the Philippines as the regional base for its Southeast Asian operations with the inauguration of its P190-million plant at the Carmelray Industrial Park in Calamba, Laguna.

Franke is the world’s biggest manufacturer of kitchen sinks, contract food service equipment and beverage containers.

Through its wholly-owned subsidiary Franke Contract Group Philippines Inc., Franke would operate as a producer and service provider for quick service restaurant chains. It would design and produce a variety of stainless steelfood service equipment for food preparation, refrigeration and cooking equipment. According to Franke, its Calamba facility would complement its facility in Heshan City, China and bolster its position in the expanding food retailing business in the Asian region.

Franke Contract Group’s focus was on the quick service restaurant (QSR) and casual theme dining segment. The company said it shops about 2,000 orders per day and its distribution from its US hubs placed it within one freight day of the US market.

The company also handles the construction of catering and commercial kitchens as well as an extensive range of equipment from fryers to electronically-controlled combi streamers.

Franke said it had also branched out to the design and manufacture of professional and fully-automated coffee machines.

Its Philippine operation, Franke said, would be to ensure the group’s foothold in the Asian market which the company said would continue to grow despite the disruptions caused by the financial crisis in 1997 and the lingering political crisis in some Asian countries like Indonesia.

In the Philippines, Franke said it was not alarmed and they did not consider the country a risky investment.

"Franke Contract Group Philippines is a strategically important step especially when one considered the fact that the demand in East Asia is rapidly growing," the company said.

Franke said the Calamba facility was necessary to its operations in the region, because the Philippines was centrally located in East Asia. The company also expressed optimism that the Arroyo Administration would protect foreign investments.

Franke was originally a sheet metal company when it started operations in 1911. In 1931, it began mass-producing sinks and in 1961 it founded its commercial kitchens division. Since then, it has already established 16 subsidiaries worldwide.