strictly business
The people of PNG certainly like their ice-cream.
Company profile
automated cleaning and sanitisation system, upgraded frozen storage, and high-capacity blast freezing capability, which is critical to maintain a high-quality product. O’Brien says that Gala was “struggling to keep up” with demand for ice-cream around PNG in recent times. “Certainly, last year we didn’t do ourselves any favours in the marketplace by being out of stock at various times,” he conceded. “The expansion will mean we can keep up with demand which is increasing – the people of PNG certainly like their ice-cream.” Describing it as something of a “latent market”, O’Brien will be interested to see how much demand for Gala’s products can grow. “It’s hard to say how big the market could be. It has really been infrastructure that has limited demand in terms of being able to get ice-cream to remote locations in decent condition,” O’Brien explained.
“The challenge for us now is to make sure we distribute it and get it around the country in good condition, which in PNG is no easy task.” To achieve this, Laga plans to continue to invest in its freezing capabilities to help it to effectively distribute it products nationwide, whether it is by ship to islands or by road into the Highlands. Once it has consolidated its position in PNG, Laga may also attempt to build an export market throughout the Pacific, O’Brien says. “Down the track we would like to do that. That’s one of our goals, probably we have enough on our plate domestically for the next 6–12 months, but certainly that is our plan.” n
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