FRUITAS Holdings, Inc. is aiming to further expand its community store network to reach 200 next year, the listed food and beverage kiosk operator said in a stock exchange disclosure on Friday.

The new target comes as the company achieved its goal of opening 100 community stores by 2021. Its 100th community store is under the Balai Pandesal brand and can be found in Parañaque City.

Fruitas announced its target of 100 community store opening in August 2020. Balai Pandesal, which it recently acquired, has also expanded to 33 outlets from five since June 2021.

Fruitas President and Chief Executive Officer Lester C. Yu said the community stores provide flexibility in the company’s operations especially with changing quarantine guidelines amid the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

“We are more accessible to customers residing or working nearby and the larger format stores also act as hubs for our delivery services,” Mr. Yu said.

Meanwhile, Fruitas said about 90% of its store network already reopened as of Oct. 22 after the recent reclassification of quarantine restrictions in the National Capital Region (NCR).

The company also mentioned that it is close to vaccinating 100% of its workforce and is expecting to vaccinate all employees before the end of the year.

“With over a thousand employees nationwide, Fruitas has vaccinated over 90% of its store personnel while 100% of commissary and head office personnel have received their COVID-19 vaccines,” the company said.

Mr. Yu said the company must ensure that its stakeholders are safeguarded against COVID-19 and any adverse effects it may cause, as well as keeping everyone in their household safe from the virus,

“As advocates of health and wellness, it is essential for us to provide a safe

environment to all our stakeholders while enjoying our healthy and fresh products such as Fruitas, Jamaican Pattie, Soy & Bean, Sabroso Lechon, and more,” he said.

On Friday, shares of Fruitas at the stock exchange rose 2.24% or three centavos to end at P1.37 apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

AC ENERGY. Corp. is aiming to have a double-digit growth over the next few years amid recent developments such as the company’s plan to fully own UPC¥AC Renewables Australia.

Eric T. Francia, AC Energy president and chief executive officer, said in a virtual roundtable with reporters on Friday that the company will try to maintain a strong double-digit growth.

“Our aim here really is to have a strong double-digit growth. We’re not going to be contented with a single-digit growth. This is a strong double-digit growth company,” Mr. Francia said.

The Ayala-led energy firm previously said that its board of directors gave the greenlight for its subsidiary, AC Renewables International Pte Ltd., to purchase the 52% interest possessed by its partner, UPC Renewables Asia-Pacific Holdings.

Meanwhile, Mr. Francia said the company is “expressing openness” in terms of continuing to be the operator of the South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp. (SLTEC) even if there is a plan to divest of the asset.

SLTEC runs a 270-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Calaca, Batangas.

“We want to make sure that you maintain the highest standards of operations and maintenance. So, that is one key consideration that we haven’t decided on yet. An asset divestment does not necessarily translate to a separation or a termination of the operations and maintenance arrangements,” Mr. Francia said.

“This is something that we will have to figure out over the next few months,” he added.

AC Energy currently has an attributable capacity of 2,600 MW in the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, and Australia.

The company is eyeing to attain 5,000 MW of renewable energy (RE) capacity by 2025.

On Friday, shares of AC Energy at the stock exchange fell 3.83% or 44 centavos to close at P11.04 apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Greater focus on health and wellness in terms of sustainability reporting for buildings will be expected in the future, according to local green office developer NEO.

“I think there’s going to be an acceleration of green building and sustainable commitments because a lot of people — the consumers, the customers, the tenants — are now going to be much more demanding,” said Raymond Rufino, NEO chief executive officer, in a virtual roundtable discussion on Friday.

“Buildings are going to be healthy, are going to be safe, and will promote the well-being of the people who live, work, and play there,” he said.

Mr. Rufino said health and wellness as a key component of sustainability is going to be huge.

“It has always been there, except that I would say, most of the companies did not focus too much on health and wellness. It would always focus on ‘let’s reduce our carbon footprint, let’s be more careful about our use of water’,” he added.

Further, Mr. Rufino said it is important for companies to fully embrace sustainability as a core part of their vision and mission.

“I think the best thing we can do is to try to inspire and convince the senior leaders at all of these companies to really embrace this. If the leadership starts and it is genuine, then the whole company will follow,” he said.

Recently, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Kelvin Lester K. Lee said all publicly listed firms are encouraged to report on their sustainability practices.

Mr. Lee added that the SEC seeks to make sustainability reporting mandatory for all companies.

According to the SEC, around 93% of publicly listed companies have complied with sustainability reporting in 2021, an increase from the 90% logged a year ago.

“We are encouraging them, we’re essentially asking them and mandating that they report on their initiatives and if that proceeds in that direction, that’s over 600,000 active corporations in the Philippines,” Mr. Lee said. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave