This holiday season, despite almost every home in the country owning a refrigerator or two, the demand for ice as Filipinos go on an extended party mode skyrockets to unprecedented heights. They have businessmen like Gerry Santos to thank for keeping their drinks cold, their desserts fresh no matter the time of day.
Businessman Gerry Santos, the man behind Mr. Freeze Tube Ice, got his idea of going into the ice business from his father, Manny Santos. But to say that he inherited the business from his old man is a tad incorrect. Instead, he improved on the idea, resulting in a bigger endeavor that was beyond the family’s wildest dreams.
When he was only five years old, Gerry’s father started out as an ice distributor. He saw how his father painstakingly worked to raise the family and provide for their needs.
“I practically grew up learning about the ice industry from him,” shared Gerry. “Every day, we would buy large blocks of ice from ice plants then take it home where we chopped it to smaller, salable pieces. The ice was then marketed to retailers and restaurants.”
Even after finishing college at San Beda, where he took up BS Management, Gerry continued to work under his father. After 13 years, he decided it was time for him to leave his comfort zone and explore other business opportunities.
However, in 2005, Gerry decided to return to his roots and entered the ice business anew. He eventually started his own ice business and made it flourish.
That was when the brand, Mr. Freeze Tube Ice, was born. That same year, the first 15-ton Mr. Freeze ice facility, was opened in Quezon City. His very first customer was his proud father. And, as they say, the rest is history.
Today, after two decades of doing business, Gerry is not planning to slow down anytime soon.
“I am somehow enjoying work-life balance,” he maintained. “Every day, I would make sure that I’m on top of everything in our business. But I know the importance and the need to delegate tasks.”
Fortunately, he now has his two children to help him out in keeping things cool, literally and figuratively, at Mr. Freeze. His son, Philip Santos, now acts as company president, while his daughter, Janina Santos Ortico, is the company’s chief finance officer.
“I can say that as a family, we make a good team in running the company, especially with the help of our hard-working employees,” Gerry said.
As the year draws to a close, Gerry revealed his plans to expand this 2025 to cater to more customers, whether individual families or businesses, including convenience stores and restaurant chains, and their ever-increasing demand for ice. But this man also know how to stop on occasions to smell the flowers.
“Even with my very busy schedule, I still make sure that I give myself time to enjoy my hobbies, like playing tennis, golf and working out at the gym. I primarily invest more time on health than wealth,” he shared.
When Gerry started Mr. Freeze, the company used to focus on catering to malls and restaurants. In 2012, however, he decided to change their business model and focused more on small entrepreneurs, like tricycle drivers, ice dealers and sari-sari stores.
“With my mission of giving back to the community, I created a livelihood program for them,” said Gerry. “Thus, helping them earn a good income to uplift their lives. Not knowing that following such a business model will make us the leading tube ice manufacturer in the country.”
Thankfully, even during the pandemic, ice was considered a basic commodity in the country. “Operating a business during the pandemic was quite challenging, since there were a lot of restrictions,” Gerry recalled.
“Our production was still labor-intensive, so we had to adapt to those changes. Of course, the uncertainty that our customers’ demand for the product has changed, as well. But fortunately, we still managed to continue our operations.
“With that, we still managed to run Mr. Freeze, despite the challenges. Our end customers were sari-sari stores and small retail/food stalls, which were continuously operating at that time.”
These days, Gerry’s goal for Mr. Freeze is to continuously improve and innovate the business. And to spread the wealth as well. “Through the years, as we expand our business, I am proud to say that we have provided a lot of job opportunities to a lot of people,” he beamed.
“Not only through employment, but also in helping the small ice entrepreneurs expand their own businesses.”
Aside from being in the ice industry, Gerry, who also ventured into TV hosting, recently launched his new business called Mr. Freeze Golf Carts.
“It all started because of my passion for golf,” Gerry said. “I’ve decided to use the same branding to promote the household name of our main business.”
