Manufacturer focuses on Vismin expansion

Despite the attractive export market, RGC International, the maker of the Uratex brand of foams and mattresses is bent on focusing its expansion plans in the Visayas and Mindanao areas.

In an interview with Uratex sales director Stephen Brian C. Lee, he said the company is now focusing on penetrating the Southern Philippine market, as tourism and real estate sectors in Vismin is growing rapidly.

Although, the export market is also showing promising business opportunities, especially within the ASEAN region, Lee said the Philippines' potential is yet to be exhausted and expansion plans are more directed to reach out directly to the end-users.

The brand, which has been in the market for 50 years now, maintains 21 manufacturing plants all over the Philippines, including Cebu, Iloilo, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, and the upcoming opening of its Butuan and General Santos plants. This year, the company will build plants in Bacolod, General Santos and Butuan. New warehouses will also be opened in Tacloban, and Bacolod, this year.

In Cebu, Lee said the brand is also gaining ground in the hospitality sector (hotels, resorts and AirBnB units), as well as rising number of residential condominium units, and subdivisions.

The customized furniture making in Cebu is also helping Uratex products to land in exports markets like United States and Europe.

The company however is now starting to make its presence felt in the ASEAN market like Sri Lanka, Vietnam, including Australia.

Part of its debut campaign to strengthen its market presence in Visayas and Mindanao is the introduction of its celebrity endorser, Cebuano matinee idol Matteo Guidicelli. According to Lee, Guidicelli's entry as brand ambassador is just part of Uratex's massive market penetration campaigns in Visayas and Mindanao. Established in 1968, Uratex has become the country's largest manufacturer of commercial and automotive polyurethane foam products.

Uratex is the flagship brand of an even larger umbrella organization of the Group, namely; RGC Textile Manufacturing Corporation; Roberts Automotive and Industrial Parts Manufacturing Corporation: and Inoac Philippines, a joint venture with Inoac of Japan, and the RGC Foam Group composed of Polyfoam-RGC International Corporation, Multiflex RNC Philippines, Inc., and Polyflex Industries.

The Group's foam business accounts for 70 percent of the company's total business.