Top 10 About GCH LARGEST Distribution Centre Malaysia

GCH Retail Distribution Centre officiated the Country's Largest Supermarket & Hypermarket Distribution Centre right here in Kajang, Malaysia! This Distribution Centre worth over RM116 million, vows to bring consumers nationwide fresher products with more value for your Ringgit.

Being Malaysian, I usually get my groceries from Giant Malaysia because I like the freshness it has to offer and it's reasonably priced. Now with this huge distribution centre here, Malaysians will be able to enjoy a fresher product at all Giant, Cold Storage, Jason's Food Hall and Mercato's in Peninsula Malaysia.

Today I was taken on a short tour in the Distribution Centre, it was a fun experience and really chilly one too...brrrr...

There's actually more areas in the DC that I've yet to explore and may not want to (because it's COLD!) but here's what's in store :
Frozen (-20°C) stores processed foods, frozen vegetables, ready meals, desserts, etc.
Perishable (+1°C) stores milk, dairy products (cheeses, yogurts, butters), delicatessen, drinks, etc.

Processing of meats (+1°C) stores beef, buffalo and lamb, fish and poultry products.

Citrus fruits (+5°C) stores lemons, oranges, tangerines, pomelo
Produce (+10°C) stores fresh vegetables and fruits - from local farmers, imported specialty and seasonal produce

Local tropical fruits (+13°C) stores banana, watermelon, papaya

Produce (+25°C) stores onions, potatoes, garlic, ginger, dried chillies

Fun facts! Red onions make up approximately 12% out of the overall products that are distributed to stores in terms of volume! Followed by potatoes at 8% and carrots at 3%! (Malaysians love their ABC soup ke? I know I do, haha!)

There's are the Top 10 Things To Know About GCH's LARGEST "Gateway For Freshness" in raising the standard of "Freshness" in your groceries!

1. COMMITMENT - For 70 years, GCH has been committed to bringing innovative, value driven, fresh retail experiences to Malaysian consumers nationwide.
2. FACILITY - The state of art facility here at Kajang, represents a part of GCH continuing financial commitment and support at an organisational level to the idea of "Freshness".
3. THE BEST QUALITY - Getting the best local products from farm to table, while ensuring the highest standards of cleanliness at every point and bringing consumers value in every purchase.

4. VALUE WORTH - GCH always strives to bring consumers value in every purchase while keeping the price affordable, yet, maintaining a high standard of fresh quality.

5. LARGEST - This Distribution Centre houses the LARGEST fresh produce and packed goods of processing, packaging and distribution in Malaysia.

6. ENERGY EFFICIENT - You will be amazed at their energy efficient operations on rainwater harvesting, heat recovery technology, integrated and automated processes, temperature-controlled environments, improved handling and logistics processes that improves the overall quality and freshness of all the fresh produce and food brought in by GCH Retail to the country.
Rainwater Harvesting - Collecting rainwater from the roof areas to be re-used in the building services such as washing the dishes in the canteen and also rainwater recycled in the washrooms.
LED Lighting - Keeps the facility well lit and saves electricity simultaneously.
Heat-Recovery Technology - Recycle waste heat generated by the refrigeration plant to pre-heat water to be used in operations like rinsing vegetables.
Refrigeration System - Real time high efficiency technology to ensure temperature control with minimal energy inputs.
Digital infrastructure - Status of cold chain can be monitored remotely for optimum efficiency and product temperature control.
Doors - High speed doors to maintain temperature integrity.
Paperless - Basically, paperless operations with Radio Frequency technology.
GPS - Trucks fitted with GPS to monitor trucks' movements.
Processing - Integrated meat and seafood processing centre.

7. PEOPLE - With this Distribution Centre alone, it is able to create more than 200 jobs directly in the warehousing and food processing sectors at this facility. This includes also the management department of all sorts, such as the product experts, buyers, quality control professionals, distribution team and even indirect job opportunities through partnerships with local suppliers, logistics partners and vendors. This actively enhanced the economy of the surrounding areas almost immediately.

8. VENUE - Located in Kajang, which took 12 months to build and occupies 25,000 square metres of land. It's practically THREE (3) times the size of the current GCH operation in Balakong. Definitely the largest and most innovative fresh distribution centre dedicated to a single retailer in Malaysia! Kajang was chosen for it's strategic location between the field and the stores.

9. REAL TIME EFFORT - From the moment the food produce arrives the Distribution Centre until it reaches to all GCH Retail stores nationwide; With insights into the process that brings fresh produce from across the country daily, this centre is designed to ensure produce from over 200 vendors stored here are constantly maintained, while the digitally enabled infrastructure of the centre with it's temperature controlled facilities, ensures round the clock monitoring for optimum efficiency. The largest real time, daily supply chain operations of fresh produce in Malaysia means, GCH assume the responsibility when it comes to preserving and enhancing the quality of food.

10. FIGHT AGAINST FOOD WASTE - As the "Gateway For Freshness", it's more than just bringing fresh quality produces to consumers; It's also about ensuring as little food as possible is wasted, hence, GCH Retail has established processes to control the age, appearance and freshness of its in-store products. When products are kept beyond this period, they are then shared with The Lost Food Project to be re-distributed to those in need for free. It will then be distributed to charities home including underprivileged children, soup kitchens for the poor and homeless, as well as those with special needs. Another reason why I prefer to shop in Giant Malaysia, because they will also clear out any food produce that does not appear nice or may have 1 or 2 spoilt items (eg. sometimes a pack of tomato is cleared out for RM1 a pack where there's 1 or 2 spoilt ones in it, but the rest are still edible).

The launch of the fresh distribution centre (DC) is part of GCH Retail's on-going commitment which includes reviewing and renewing the way supermarket and hypermarket shopping experiences are brought into the nation and how it may support Malaysians nationwide. Incase you aren't aware yet, GCH Retail (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd is a subsidiary of Dairy Farm International. You will probably know them through Giant hypermarkets and supermarkets chain; Cold Storage, Mercato and Jason's Food Hall premium grocery stores. GCH Retail was awarded as Retail Asia-Pacific's Top 500 Gold Winner as Malaysia's Number 1 Retailer!

This pineapple super syok! Sweet, delicious, fresh and cold!

The perception on frozen food is that it is not fresh. Most aunties, would tell me to buy from the fresh market because they claim it's fresher, however, they are unaware of it's quality and actual freshness because some could be actually frozen and defrosted (on repeat) until it's sold. Nevertheless, I beg to differ; And I am right, because GCH DC has 32 state of the art docks that handle all deliveries with over 50 trucks everyday, going in and out, delivering the freshest products to customers. And all products are quality checked and assured before being accepted and made ready for delivery to stores nationwide.

That being said, all local products will be harvested, received and sent to stores on the same day! It's a round-the-clock service and the DC facility houses an on-site generator that can last up to 8 hours in case of power outage, equipped with CCTV's, fire suppression system and ammonia sensors to ensure the well-being of their workers and customers at the facility. Am sure fresh markets won't have such preliminary checks to ensure the person handling your fresh food produce is well and fit for duty. After all, the last thing anybody wants is to have their fresh produce contaminated by any unwanted strains of bacteria. So I rather be safe than sorry.

Met my ex-colleague, Darren, dulu with Samsung together.
Now he is attached with Shopper360 - Malaysia's Shopper Marketing Experts.

All in all, this NEW and LARGEST Supermarket & Hypermarket Distribution Centre by GCH Retail (M) Sdn Bhd is the ultimate "Gateway For Freshness" for Malaysians!