Universal Robina
Encyclopedia
Universal Robina Corporation or URC is one of the largest brand food product companies in the Philippines
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was doing very well then as a trader/importer. He had learned the trade when his father died before the war, and had worked hard through the war and postwar years to prosper. However, while he thrived, he took a long hard look at his company, and correctly predicted that trading would remain a low-margin business.
On the other hand, a successful manufacturer controlling its own production and distribution would command more profitable margins. Mr. John decided to construct a corn milling plant to produce glucose and cornstarch, Universal Corn Products (UCP), the first building block of the company that would become URC.
For a time, business was good. However, Mr. John was still looking ahead, working with an eye towards the future. While the business was doing very well, it was producing essentially a commodity, which a customer could easily access elsewhere. To stay ahead in the game, Mr. John had to diversify by producing and marketing his own branded consumer foods, similar to the multinational companies in the Philippines like Nestle and Procter & Gamble. In a sense, he wanted to put up the first ‘local’ MNC, borne out of their best practices.
Thus, in 1961, Consolidated Food Corporation was born. Their first ‘home run’ product was Blend 45, the first locally-manufactured coffee blend, dubbed as the “Pinoy coffee”. This became the largest-selling coffee brand in the market, even beating market leaders Café Puro and Nescafe. After coffee came chocolates. Nips, a panned chocolate similar to M&Ms, was a staple of Filipino childhood.
In 1963, Robina Farms started operations, beginning with poultry products. This was also the beginning of the vertical integration of the Gokongwei businesses, as the farms would be able to purchase feeds from UCP in the future. Later that decade, Robichem Laboratories would be put up, to cater to the veterinary needs of the farms businesses. Robina Farms expanded as it entered the hogs business in the latter part of the 70s.
1966 saw the establishment of Universal Robina Corporation, which pioneered the savory snacks industry in the Philippines through its Chiz Curls, Chippy, and Potato Chips, under the “Jack ‘n Jill” brand. Other snack products would follow over the years, as the company successfully introduced market leaders like Jack 'n Jill Pretzels (pretzels), Piattos (fabricated potato chips), and Maxx (hard candy).
The coming decades saw more acquisitions and expansion. In the early 1970s, the Gokongwei family entered the commodities business through the formation of Continental Milling Corporation, for flour milling and production. The late 1980s brought the acquisition of three sugar mills and refineries, under URC Sugar. These two businesses provided stable cash flows, and allowed for further vertical integration in the supply chain, to help URC weather any volatility in the cyclical commodities markets. In line with this strategy, the late 1990s saw the entry of URC into the plastics business, through URC Packaging.
As the businesses became more diversified, the companies were slowly integrated in order to streamline operations and minimize costs. In 2005, the present structure of the group was completed. All the different companies are now organized under Universal Robina Corporation, divided into three focused groups:
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
.
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. The Coffee Makers won 6 PBA championships.
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
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History and profile
Universal Robina Corporation (URC) traced its beginnings all the way back to 1954. John Gokongwei, Jr.John Gokongwei
John L. Gokongwei, Jr. is a Chinese Filipino businessman with holdings in telecommunications, financial services, petrochemicals, power generation, aviation and live stock farming...
was doing very well then as a trader/importer. He had learned the trade when his father died before the war, and had worked hard through the war and postwar years to prosper. However, while he thrived, he took a long hard look at his company, and correctly predicted that trading would remain a low-margin business.
On the other hand, a successful manufacturer controlling its own production and distribution would command more profitable margins. Mr. John decided to construct a corn milling plant to produce glucose and cornstarch, Universal Corn Products (UCP), the first building block of the company that would become URC.
For a time, business was good. However, Mr. John was still looking ahead, working with an eye towards the future. While the business was doing very well, it was producing essentially a commodity, which a customer could easily access elsewhere. To stay ahead in the game, Mr. John had to diversify by producing and marketing his own branded consumer foods, similar to the multinational companies in the Philippines like Nestle and Procter & Gamble. In a sense, he wanted to put up the first ‘local’ MNC, borne out of their best practices.
Thus, in 1961, Consolidated Food Corporation was born. Their first ‘home run’ product was Blend 45, the first locally-manufactured coffee blend, dubbed as the “Pinoy coffee”. This became the largest-selling coffee brand in the market, even beating market leaders Café Puro and Nescafe. After coffee came chocolates. Nips, a panned chocolate similar to M&Ms, was a staple of Filipino childhood.
In 1963, Robina Farms started operations, beginning with poultry products. This was also the beginning of the vertical integration of the Gokongwei businesses, as the farms would be able to purchase feeds from UCP in the future. Later that decade, Robichem Laboratories would be put up, to cater to the veterinary needs of the farms businesses. Robina Farms expanded as it entered the hogs business in the latter part of the 70s.
1966 saw the establishment of Universal Robina Corporation, which pioneered the savory snacks industry in the Philippines through its Chiz Curls, Chippy, and Potato Chips, under the “Jack ‘n Jill” brand. Other snack products would follow over the years, as the company successfully introduced market leaders like Jack 'n Jill Pretzels (pretzels), Piattos (fabricated potato chips), and Maxx (hard candy).
The coming decades saw more acquisitions and expansion. In the early 1970s, the Gokongwei family entered the commodities business through the formation of Continental Milling Corporation, for flour milling and production. The late 1980s brought the acquisition of three sugar mills and refineries, under URC Sugar. These two businesses provided stable cash flows, and allowed for further vertical integration in the supply chain, to help URC weather any volatility in the cyclical commodities markets. In line with this strategy, the late 1990s saw the entry of URC into the plastics business, through URC Packaging.
As the businesses became more diversified, the companies were slowly integrated in order to streamline operations and minimize costs. In 2005, the present structure of the group was completed. All the different companies are now organized under Universal Robina Corporation, divided into three focused groups:
- the Branded Consumer Foods Group, composed of BCFG Domestic (including packaging) and URC International, for the production and sale of snacks, beverage, and grocery products,
- the Agro-Industrial Group, composed of Universal Corn Products, Robina Farms, and Robichem, for the production and sale of animal feeds, day-old chicks, hogs, and veterinary medicine,
- and the Commodity Foods Group, with the Sugar and Flour divisions, for the production of flour and sugar, and for sugar milling and refining services.
URC is a core subsidiary of JG Summit Holdings, Inc.
JG Summit Holdings
JG Summit Holdings, Inc is one of the largest conglomerates in the Philippines with business interests in air transportation, banking, food manufacturing, hotels, petrochemicals, power generation, publishing, real estate and property development, and telecommunications...
(JGSHI) which is one of the largest business conglomerates listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange
Philippine Stock Exchange
The Philippine Stock Exchange is the national stock exchange of the Philippines. It is one of the oldest stock exchanges in Southeast Asia, having been in continuous operation since its inception in 1927...
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URC owned the Philippine Basketball Association
Philippine Basketball Association
The Philippine Basketball Association , is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of 10 company-branded franchised teams. It is the first and oldest professional basketball league in Asia and the second oldest in the world after the NBA...
franchise Great Taste Coffee Makers
Great Taste Coffee Makers
Great Taste Coffee was one of the Pioneer teams in the Philippine Basketball Association . The company was then known as the Consolidated Foods Corporation and their chief products included well known brands like Presto Ice Cream, N-Rich Coffee Cream, Jack & Jill Fun Snacks, Great Taste Coffee...
which played from the inaugural 1975 season
1975 PBA season
-Notable events:*The first game was held on April 9, 1975 at the Araneta Coliseum with the Marisawa-Noritake Porcelainmakers beating Concepcion Carriers 101-98 in the opening game and Toyota edging out U/Tex, 105-101 in front of 18,000 spectators...
to 1992
1992 PBA season
The 1992 PBA season was the 18th season of the Philippine Basketball Association .-Notable occurrences:*PBA Commissioner Rudy Salud, stepped down from his post, after four successful years of guiding the league at its highest level, PBA chairman Rey Marquez succeeded Atty.Salud as the new PBA...
when the company sold the team to Sta. Lucia Realty. The Coffee Makers won 6 PBA championships.
Snack foods
- Jack 'n Jill
- Snacks
- Waffles (pancake with ridges chip)
- Piattos (hexagonal-shaped fabricated potato chip)
- Potato Chips (natural potato chip)
- V-Cut (ridged natural potato chip)
- Chippy (rectangular corn chip)
- Taquitos (circular corn chip)
- Mr. Chips (triangular corn chip)
- Tostillas (triangular corn chip, although the size is bigger than Mr. Chips)
- Roller Coaster (a looped fabricated potato snack)
- Chiz Curls (cheese flavored extruded corn-based snack)
- Nova (Multigrain snack)
- Candies
- X.O. (deposited candy) available in coffee, caramel, icy mint, milkshake
- Maxx (mentholated hard candy) available in menthol, cherry, dalandan orange, honeymansi, honey lemon and eucalyptus
- Dynamite (creme-filled mint-flavored candy) available in mint choco and melon
- Lush (chocolate creme-filled chocolate soft candy similar to Tootsie Rolls but is filled with chocolate creme)
- Jojo Gummi (gummy candies)
- Wiggles (milk chocolate or mocha-covered marshmallows)
- Star Fruits (fruity soft candy)
- Star Pops (fruit or chocolate flavored lollipops)
- Candy Bars
- Big Bang (nougat and rice crispies smothered in milk chocolate)
- Chooey Choco (butterscotch caramel covered in chocolate)
- Chooey Toffee (toffee caramel covered in chocolate)
- Cloud 9 (nougat, caramel and peanuts covered in milk chocolate, similar to SnickersSnickersSnickers is a brand name chocolate bar made by Mars, Incorporated. It consists of peanut nougat topped with roasted peanuts and caramel, enrobed in milk chocolate. Snickers has annual global sales of $2 billion....
) - Nips (candy-coated chocolate with mini versions and peanut and crispies variants)
- Cereal Bars
- Nova Multigrain Snack Bars (cereal bar made with a variety of healthy grains and has only 99 calories)
- Biscuits
- Magic Flakes Premium Crackers (soda crackers)
- Magic Flavors (Flavored Crackers)
- Magic Creams (Sandwich Crackers)
- Magic Chips (Bite-Sized Flavored Crackers)
- Magic Thins
- Presto Creams (sandwich cream cookies)
- Cream-O (cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies)
- Dewberry (creme-filled sandwich cookies with jam topping)
- Nova Multigrain Cookies (crunchy multigrain oatmeal with raisins)
- Rainbow Bites (bite-sized cookies with candy-coated chocolate pieces)
- Jack 'n Jill Pretzels (chocolate/strawberry/milk coated stick pretzels)
- Choco Knots (chocolate-covered twisted pretzels)
- Berry Knots (strawberry milk-covered twisted pretzels)
- Milky Knots (milk-covered twisted pretzels)
- Hello! Wafers
- Hello! Wafrets
- Hello! Pipers
- Cakes
- Quake Overload (chocolate-covered creme-filled chocolate cakes)
- Quake Cups (muffins filled with creme)
- Snacks
Beverages
- Bottled Beverages
- C2 Green TeaC2 Green TeaC2 Green Tea is a bottled green tea beverage produced and manufactured by Universal Robina. The drink was first manufactured in the Philippines. Sometimes it is simply called as C2- Manufacturing Process :...
- Coffee Twist
- Envidia Green Tea
- Hidden Spring Mineral Water
- Nestle Pure Life Water
- C2 Green Tea
- Others
- Refresh Juice Powder, Water in Cups and Juice in Cups
- Refresh Juicy Jelly
- Energy Drink
- Xplode Carbonated Energy Drink (Endorsed by Dave "The Animal" Batista of WWE)
Grocery and convenience food products
- Nissin products (under license from Nissin Foods of Japan)
- Nissin's Ramen
- Nissin's Instant Mami
- Nissin's Yakisoba
- Nissin's Cup Noodles
- Nissin's Yakisoba Cup Noodles
- Payless Noodle Products
- Payless Instant Noodles
- Payless Instant Pancit Canton
- Payless Spaghetti
- Payless Macaroni
- Payless Pancit Shanghai
- Others
- C2 Green Leaf Iced Tea
- Cream-All Non-Dairy Creamer
- Great Taste Premium Blend coffee
- Great Taste Granulated Coffee
- Blend 45 coffee
- Great Taste Coffee Mixes
- Great Taste RTD
- Great Taste Iced Coffee
Hunts-URC products
Hunts-URC is a joint venture between URC and ConAgra Foods, Inc.- Hunt'sHunt'sHunt's is the name of a brand of preserved tomato products owned by ConAgra Foods, Inc. The company was founded in 1888, in Sebastopol, California, as the Hunt Bros. Fruit Packing Co. by Joseph and William Hunt. The brothers relocated to nearby Santa Rosa in 1890, and then to Hayward in 1895...
- Tomato Sauce
- Tomato Paste
- Pork n' Beans
- Spaghetti Sauce
- Tomato Ketchup
- Baked Beans
- Swiss MissSwiss MissSwiss Miss is a brand name for cocoa powder and pudding products sold by American food company, ConAgra Foods, Inc. Created with a blend of "dark European cocoa", Swiss Miss is a well-established brand of instant hot chocolate in America...
- Complete Cocoa Mix
- RTD Milk Shakes