Gerald.ph Pioneers Cold-Chain and Sterilized Food Delivery in Metro Manila: Frozen Goods are Delivered Virus-Free at −20°C Right to Your Doorstep
Do you need to stock up on chicken, beef, or pork during the lockdown but want to make sure that these arrive clean and virus-free? Are you craving for fresh salmon but not confident that what you’d get isn’t sterilized or fresh enough for your grill? Are you anxious your frozen veggies would turn soggy and not be safe to eat when the courier rings up?
Eliminating the Fear of Frozen Foods
“People didn't believe in frozen food,” started Gerald Egrasse, a French food industry veteran whose experience in France and French Africa led him to the Philippines, “but frozen is mostly defrosted food, thawed in transit, then frozen again at home.”
Gerald’s Most Recommended Bestsellers
Lamb leg (bone in) |
From the Butcher Shop, Monsieur Egrasse recommends lamb leg (bone in) not only on Father’s Day on June 20 but also for all of those occasions and holidays where an extraordinary treat is called for. Available in 2.4-3.2 kilograms, you can get your leg for P1,7950 frozen and vacuum-packed from Australia or New Zealand. Great covered in butter and filled with rosemary sprigs before roasting for two hours at 180°C.
Whole Salmon Fillet (skin on) |
Whole salmon fillet (skin on) from the Seafood section is best for grilling with lettuce and roasting with butter and herbs. Rich in omega 3 fatty acids and very good for the heart, each 1.8-2.0 kilograms pack from Chile or Norway costs P1,880. Scallops are so versatile that the Galicians bake it with bread crumbs, ham, and onions; the Japanese serve it in soup or topped on rice; and, the French cook it à la nage in broth flavored with herbs and wine or sautéed, grilled, or broiled in skewers or en brochette.
6 Butter Croissants |
From the Bakery comes ready-to-bake butter croissant dough in packs of six. For P320, you can enjoy authentic French croissants baked right in the comfort of your home. Watch Egrasse bake one on their YouTube channel.
Gerald.ph prides itself in locally sourcing export-quality Philippine mangoes for their P250 per 908 grams pack mango halves - skinless. Seedless, flash-frozen, and ready for your smoothies and shakes, mangoes are rich in vitamins C and A. Also Proudly Pinoy is Gerald.ph mango jam for P149 per 270 grams jar. All-natural and homemade, this honeylicious jam is perfect with multigrain bread, yogurt, croissants, bananas, pancakes, milkshakes, and juices!
From the Cheese & Dairy section, and also from the Philippines, is the 500 grams premium mozzarella log. You can melt it in your oven dishes, grate it for your pizza or pasta, pair it with white wine, or serve on your cheese platter. At P450, this log is a steal. They also have traditional Italian mozzarella and traditional cherry mozzarella all from the Philippines at P290 per pack of 250 grams.
Scallops (roe off) |
Carrying the Healthy Food stamp from the Seafood section are scallops (roe off) from the US at P799 per 454 grams pack. Excellent as appetizers or main dishes, these low-fat and high-protein shellfish are also excellent sources of vitamin B12 and zinc.
Gerald.ph also carries two gourmet wild mushrooms considered as culinary delicacies: porcini mushrooms (Cèpes) and chanterelle mushrooms for P1,195 per pack of 500 grams and P750 per pack of 454 grams, respectively. These European mushrooms are not only rich in vitamins and minerals, but they’re also great for sauteing in butter, grilling, or oven-roasting as well as in casseroles, soups, and pasta.
Educational and Interactive Website
Gerald.ph has an interactive website that gives consumers a wide array of products categorized by section (like in a supermarket): Bakery, Butcher Shop, Seafood, Fruits & Vegetables, Cheese & Dairy, Wine Shop; and, by food type (like in a health food store): Gluten-Free, Healthy Food Swaps, Organic & Vegan, Keto & Diabetic Friendly, Supplements, and World Cuisines. The best thing about the website though is that every product page features an encyclopedic wealth of information, including product description, health benefits, cooking instructions, ingredients, place of origin, recipe suggestion, and nutrition facts!
To further increase consumer trust, Gerald.ph has come up with two barometers of quality: product reviews and trust labels. Everyone who has registered an account with Gerald.ph, whether they have purchased a product or have tasted some from friends or as gifts, can submit their product review and rating online. “We read these reviews and take them seriously,” he admits, “so we can remove from our inventory products that get bad reviews. All our products should consistently delight customers.”
Safe and Clean Online Shopping Alternative
“Unlike when shopping onsite in supermarkets where buyers tend to handle and smell products before buying,” Egrasse explains, “Gerald.ph assures you of quality products without these risks.” Moreover, buyers engaged in physical shopping in warehouse outlets like SNR “tend to overbuy foodstuff, even the fresh ones, most of which just get thawed in transit, go straight into the freezer, and get stored for some time.” Gerald.ph, thus, not only offers the freshest foods flash-frozen at the source then transported and stored for consumers’ online convenience but also delivers these prime goods in negative 20 degrees right to your doorstep.
“If you order before 2 p.m., you get your goods by refrigerated truck between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. the following day,” he advised. Minimum order is P2,000 plus P90 delivery fee within Metro Manila. “If you order P5,000 and above, delivery is free.”
Future Plans
“We want a clean website, improved services, and greater product range. We want to carry Italian stuff like ravioli pasta, meatless products, no-fish products, mushroom-based products, and breaded scallop burgers,” Egrasse enthusiastically shared. The new website design should be able to identify customers if they’re shopping frozen, fresh, or dry. “We also plan to partner with restaurants and bakeries for our ready-to-eat meals; but, instead of pushing the restaurants, we’re pushing for the Gerald.ph brand.”
For Phase 1, Gerald.ph plans to increase its cold storage to 50 feet wide by 5 feet high for a good size warehouse with ample space for picking and organizing without the need to rush as well as dispatching and shipping.
For Phase 2, the specialty grocery intends to have a chiller to store positive-temperature inventory like salads and fresh veggies. “Arugula, for instance, won’t do well in −20°C,” he said. Scheduled for phase 2 as well as the purchase of another truck to cover Metro Manila and two motorcycles for prime delivery, “We’re thinking of having the freezer truck go around the Metro the whole afternoon for deliveries.”
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