A family-owned business founded on the drive to bring innovation to the Philippines

Our story began in 1946 when Antonio C. Delgado realized while overlooking the port of Manila, “Why wait for the ships to come, when you can go to them?”

From then on, a company committed to the betterment of the Philippines and the Filipinos was born. Delbros continues to push ahead with its reputation as a company of firsts in the industries of logistics and transportation, technology, and food production. Ultimately bringing nation building, innovation, and modernization to the country.

Through the years

The formation and success of the Caltex Floating Station (CFS) brought about by Antonio C. Delgado allowed Delbros to experience a period of large-scale growth and prosperity during the 1950s and 1960s. Operations were expanded into crewing and manning, while transportation and warehousing flourished. Furthermore, a large investment was made through the Delgado Brothers Hotel Corporation to establish The Manila Hilton, the first five-star hotel in the Philippines.

The Martial Law period during the 1970s and early 1980s was a period of transition for Delbros. It was this time that the company has suffered losses in the form of seizure and closure of many of the group’s assets which led the company to part ways with the divestment of some of the core businesses, as well as the buyout of shares of the main holding company. Although separated, these divided companies continue to thrive in their respective fields today.

As a testament to their strength and resiliency, Delbros shifted its business focus and grew into the first total transportation company, fully integrating air, land, sea freight forwarding services. It even served as the largest military transport service in the Philippines during the Vietnam War. And in the late 1980s, Delbros partnered with the world’s largest package delivery company, United Parcel Service (UPS).

With the logistics investments of Delbros performing so well, more assets were directed to this industry — a move that would shape the foundations of Delbros in the years to come.

The 1990s to early 2000s marked a period of reorganization for Delbros. While they were able to work with the UPS Asian Hub on reviving Clark after the Mt. Pinatubo eruption, the financial crisis in 1997 in Asia and 2008 around the world pushed them to divest their warehousing and local delivery operations in order to streamline its overall operations. This led them to expand their horizons and focus on developing more diverse fields.

The years following 2010 brought another wave of innovations and firsts to the company. Delbros introduced advancements to the agriculture and technology sectors through Cane X, a company that uses the most modern and mechanized tractors for harvesting, hauling, and loading sugarcanes, as well as Good Greens & Co., the pioneering multi-story, autonomous, and automated vertical farms in the Philippines.

Moving forward

Throughout the decades, Delbros continued to reinvent itself to ride with the challenges and opportunities of the changing times. While it foresees growth and sustainability in industries they’re involved in, Delbros intends to keep evolving by establishing its name in disruptive industries such as robotics, modern agriculture, vertical farming, financial technology, and blockchain.

Considering the shift in the business landscape since 2020, Delbros believes that it is time to elevate the corporation to a global scale. All with its persistent drive to contribute to nation building, innovation, and modernization to the country.