Interview with Salvador Escaño, Founder and Chairman of Pryce Corp (PPC.PS)
Mr. Escaño discusses vertical integration, future directions, and Pryce's staying power among its household consumer base, and what it takes to power a nation's kitchens
Pryce Corporation (PPC.PS, “Pryce”), a key player in the Philippine liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) distribution market, is a vertically integrated company that imports, stores, and distributes LPG directly to households and small businesses. Have you ever considered the challenges of cooking in a country with diverse geography and limited infrastructure? Pryce's robust distribution network addresses these challenges, making it the second-largest player in the Visayas and Mindanao regions, and the third-largest nationwide.
Mr. Salvador Escaño, the driving force behind Pryce, shares how he built one of the Philippines’ largest gas distributors from humble beginnings. He emphasizes the business's staying power – customers remain loyal to Pryce due to high switching costs and its extensive B2C distribution network. The pandemic illustrated that domestic demand for LPG is inelastic, even amid energy price volatility. Pryce's business model demonstrates remarkable long-term resilience, fueled by the unaffordability of electric cooking systems, the lack of piped gas networks throughout the archipelago, and new regulations poised to drive market consolidation.