Universal Robina

Universal Robina Corporation, abbreviated as URC and also known as Universal Robina, is a Philippine company headquartered in Quezon City. It is one of the largest food and beverage companies in the Philippines, along with San Miguel Corporation, Monde Nissin, Mondelez Philippines and Nestlé Philippines.[4]

URC is a core subsidiary of JG Summit Holdings, Inc. (JGSHI) which is one of the largest business conglomerates listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange.[5]

History

The company was founded on September 28, 1954 by John Gokongwei, Jr.[6] under the name Universal Corn Products (UCP) after Gokongwei decided to construct a corn milling plant to produce glucose and cornstarch.

In 1961, Consolidated Food Corporation (later known as CFC Corporation) was established. The company's first product was Blend 45 instant coffee. It became one of the best-selling instant coffee brands in the local market, beating Café Puro and Nescafé at that time. After the success of Blend 45, the company launched the Presto brand to enter the chocolate segment in the late 1960s with its cocoa powder, powdered chocolate drink and confectionery. It later launched Nips, a brand of chocolate candies similar to M&M's. It became a staple among Filipino children.

In 1963, Robina Farms started their operations with poultry products. This marked the beginning of the vertical integration of the Gokongwei businesses, as the farms would be able to purchase feeds from UCP in the future. In the same decade, Robichem Laboratories was established for the veterinary needs of the farms' businesses. In the 1970s, Robina Farms expanded their operations as they entered the piggery business.[7]

In 2014, URC announced a joint venture with Danone for a beverage production and distribution business in the Philippines.[8] In the same year, URC established a joint venture with Calbee to establish local manufacturing for Calbee products.[9] The joint venture was later terminated in 2018 upon Calbee selling its shares to URC.[10] Also in the same year, URC expanded to Oceania by acquiring New Zealand-based biscuit company, Griffin's Foods. This was followed by the acquisition of Snack Brands Australia in 2016.[11] In December 2019, URC and German company Intersnack formed Unisnack ANZ, a joint venture comprising Griffin's Foods and Snack Brands Australia. Intersnack held a 40% stake in the consolidated business.[12][13] However, URC would exit the venture in August 2021 by selling its stake in Unisnack ANZ to Intersnack.[14]

In November 2021, URC entered an agreement to purchase Malaysia-based Munchy's from CVC Capital Partners for US$454 million.[15]

Presence

URC is based in Quezon City and as of 2018 has 19 production sites in the Philippines. It also has production sites in China, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. The company also maintains an exclusive distributor presence in Laos and Cambodia, as well as sales offices in Hong Kong and Singapore.[11]

Sports

URC owned the Philippine Basketball Association franchise Great Taste Coffee Makers which played from the inaugural 1975 season to 1992 when the company sold the team to Sta. Lucia Realty.[16] The Coffee Makers won six PBA championships.

See also

• John Gokongwei
• JG Summit Holdings
• Robinsons Malls

External links