The retail electricity supplier (RES) arm of Aboitiz Power Corporation has inked a deal to supply the electricity needs of NoBia Inc., the commissary support to the Max’s group of restaurants.

In a statement to the media, Aboitiz Power noted that it will satiate the power needs of NoBia – primarily for its food manufacturing and distribution centers in Carmona, Cavite – and the duration of their power supply agreement will be for four years.

According to NoBia President Cristina Garcia, their contract with Aboitiz Power on electricity services procurement “not only allows us to serve countless Filipino individuals with our culinary offerings but also adds significant value to the Max's Group's mission.”

The commissary is in charge of producing roughly 2,000 metric tons of food each month – and that primarily underpins the operations of more than 300 retail-partner stores, as well as a local network of more than 600 stores of the Max’s group all over the country.

In the power supply agreement, the capacity delivery agreed upon by the parties will be 1,200 kilowatts or 1.2-megawatt capacity.

The Max’s restaurants network include those of Pancake House, Yellow Cab Pizza Co., Krispy Kreme and its well-known Max’s resto which is famed for its chicken recipe.

Aboitiz Power Retail Head James Byron Yu similarly stated that “NoBia’s dedication to evolving their menu offerings and enhancing their capabilities illustrates their unwavering commitment to leading the way in service excellence in food manufacturing and distribution.”

And in that transformative phase of their food and beverage business, Yu stressed that Aboitiz Power takes it as a privilege “to support that with the clean and reliable energy it can and will deliver.”

Businesses, like the Max’s group, can perfectly exercise their ‘power of choice’ when it comes to contracting for their power supply, as anchored on the policies and regulations set forth under the Retail Competition and Open Access (RCOA) policy of the restructured power sector of the Philippines.

It has not been specified which power plant of the Aboitiz group will supply the electricity requirements of the Max’s food and beverage chain, but it was indicated that it will be coming from its portfolio of renewable energy (RE) assets.

The off-take (purchase) price agreed upon by the parties had not also been revealed, but in the competitive retail market, it is always a case that the negotiated price with contestable customers is often lower than the grid rate.

As instituted, contestable customers are those who can already choose their power providers based on the prevailing capacity threshold of 500 kilowatts (kW) and up as enforced by the industry regulator.