20 years of quenching Saipan’s thirst

Exactly 20 years ago, businessman Anthony Pellegrino acquired a water company from a Japanese firm in Lower Base, a venture that would become popularly known as Saipan Ice Inc., the CNMI’s leading player in the industry today.

Saipan Ice started with a staff of three, producing 5,000 gallons of purified water daily. Today, the company has about 65 employees, while purified water production has grown to 100,000 gallons daily. Saipan Ice also produces ice, and has its own bottling plant, besides giving birth to a subsidiary some years ago—the Home Trade Inc., which sells detergents and related products.

Saipan Ice vice president and general manager Ador Songcuan also disclosed that the company is now the island’s exclusive distributor of Crystal Geyser bottled mineral water from California. Saipan Ice also serves as the sole local distributor for world-renowned water treatment systems manufacturer Severn Treat Services/UAT based in the United States.

“Our customers are really with us,” Songcuan said. “Our customers demand quality and good service. That’s why we remain the leading water company in the CNMI.”

“We’d like to express gratitude to our customers. We’d like to thank them for not stopping demanding quality from us,” Songcuan said.

Songcuan said the company enjoys more than half of the local market, despite the strong competition in the industry.

Songcuan emphasized the company’s value for customer service, saying that it takes customers’ comments very seriously. He disclosed that Saipan Ice has expanded its own laboratory, enforcing stringent quality control measures, including, among others, testing water quality before and after the reverse osmosis process.

This year, the company plans to upgrade its bottling system by acquiring a new machine, which will print the date of production on bottled water caps.

Songcuan said the company complies with drinking water regulations set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Division of Environmental Quality. He urged the government to help the local water industry by extending its regulatory arm to imported bottled water products that do not go through EPA or DEQ water quality tests.

As Saipan Ice celebrates its 20th anniversary today, the company has been giving away 12-can cases of Coca Cola Zero since the beginning of the month. Songcuan said customers should tune in to Power 99 radio station and answer a trivia question to win a prize.

“What we’re doing is communicating directly to customers for their loyalty,” Songcuan said.

Saipan Ice’s customer service hotlines are 322-9848, 322-9455 and 322-6130.