Businessman-turned-TV host Gerry Santos of the first season of Negosyo Goals back in 2022, started the popular Mr. Freeze Tube Ice. 

When he was only five years old, Gerry’s father, Manny, started out as an ice distributor. He saw how his father painstakingly worked hard to raise the family and provided for their needs.

“I practically grew up learning about the ice industry,” shared Gerry. “Every day, we would buy large blocks of ice from ice plants then took it home where we chopped it to smaller, sellable pieces. The ice was marketed to retailers and restaurants.”

Even after finishing college from 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 with Mr. Freeze, Gerry is not planning to throw in the towel and leave running his business.

“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, although I always delegate tasks.”

Fortunately, he now has his two children to help him out in operating Mr. Freeze. His son, Philip Santos, now acts as president of Mr. Freeze, while his daughter, Janina Santos Ortico, is the chief finance officer (CFO). 

“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 admitted.

The business owner reveals the plan of Mr. Freeze to expand this 2025, so that the company may cater to more customers.

“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.”

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 business model will make us the leading tube ice manufacturer in the country.”

Thankfully, even in 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, since they were considered essential establishments.”

Gerry’s goal for Mr. Freeze is to continuously improve and innovate the business. “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 on 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.”