URC builds P1-B Vitasoy facility in Pampanga

GOKONGWEI- LED Universal Robina Corp. (URC) is investing P1 billion for a new manufacturing facility in Pampanga that is targeted to open in 2019.

In a news conference in Quezon City on Wednesday, URC Chairman Lance Gokongwei said the plant would manufacture purely Vitasoy products, a new brand it recently rolled out in a joint venture with Hong Kong-based Vitasoy Group.

URC entered into an agreement with the Vitasoy Group In February last year to market the latter’s products in the Philippines. The deal included putting up a new plant to allow for the local manufacture of Vitasoy products.

At the same conference, Gokongwei said the company ex - cial performance starting in the second half of this year.

URC saw a 12-percent drop in P3 billion from P3.4 billion in the same period last year, despite a 2 percent increase in sales.

“We expect growth in terms of sales in the second half and toward the coming years,” he noted.

Among the expected main drivers of this turnaround is the snack business under the Jack N Jill brand, Nissin noodles, its C2 beverage business, as well as its international operations in Australia and New Zealand.

URC will also focus on strengthening its coffee business amid tight market competition.

“They [ competitors] are gaining a bit of that momentum,” URC newly- appointed president and chief executive officer Irwin Lee said.

URC is the food and beverage arm of the Gokongweis under conglomerate JG Summit Holdings, Inc.