The Birth of URC

Tracing its roots all the way back to 1954, Universal Robina Corporation (URC) was first established in the Philippines by Mr. John Gokongwei.

A trader and importer, Mr. John was already a successful entrepreneur back then. Yet he looked beyond his current success and aspired to expand his business even further. Hence, with his savvy business expertise and foresight, he decided to start off his own production and distribution by constructing a corn milling plant to produce glucose and cornstarch – leading to the birth of Universal Corn Products (UCP), the first linchpin of the company that would become the URC we know today.

Armed with eye for the future and great foresight, Mr. John realized that manufacturing commodities while providing steady revenues did not guarantee lasting customer loyalty. With this in mind, he began to diversify by producing and marketing his own brand of consumer foods similar to the multinational companies in the country, such as Nestle and Procter & Gamble – thus conceiving the first ‘local’ MNC borne out of their best practices to shape URC to where it is today.