Universal Robina Corp. (URC) is ramping up its operations in the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian nations.
Irwin Lee, president, chief executive and director of URC, said the business had been remarkably promising in the ASEAN region.
“Our businesses have been very strong in all the ASEAN countries. We’ve seen high single-digit to double-digit growth in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. The Philippines has been more of a drag, but now we’re seeing a bit of a turn. Cautious optimism is growing, and sentiments are improving with inflation easing slightly,” Lee said in an interview on national television.
With today’s national and local elections, Lee expects a push in corporate revenue. “Elections have always provided a lift for us. We are, of course, banking on some of that lift this year,” he said.
Rewind to 2018 when he took over the reins of URC.
“When I joined the company in May 2018, my priority was to accelerate changes to address the biggest challenges that have weighed on the business in the last couple of years. Three areas needed the immediate focus to arrest the negative impact holding us back from realizing greater potential,” he recalled.
In 2023, URC’s net income dropped 2 percent to P12.5 billion on lower profit from its sugar and renewables businesses. Sales, however, went up 3 percent to P161.9 billion on higher volume across all divisions.
To restore profit growth, he looked at domestic operations which account for 70 percent of revenues, with an eye on enhancing URC’s presence in Southeast Asia.
He identified three core areas of concern: coffee, distribution and supply chain which have to be vigorously addressed.
He said the continuous decline in Philippine coffee sales since 2016 necessitated a different approach. “We dedicated the second half of 2018 to embark on better consumer insight generation, fast product prototyping and heavy renovation work to improve Great Taste White’s brand proposition and offerings. This paved the way for a January 2019 restage that is showing early positive results in reversing our coffee decline,” he said.
In the area of distribution, he discerned opportunities to boost in-store presence and expand market reach. Hence, route-to-market reinventions rolled out in the second half of 2018 in several ASEAN markets, with critical interventions underway in the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar and Indonesia.
Meanwhile, supply networks weighed heavily on operating costs and required drastic reforms to include the rationalization of stock keeping units, creating in-country integrated supply chain organizations; implementation of a more robust sales and operations planning process; lean manufacturing practices; and a supply network re-design.
“We are making good progress on these immediate priorities, and have integrated them into our strategic pillars that will enable our transformation into the leading food and beverage sustainable enterprise from the Philippines,” Lee said.
Lee brought to URC his vast experience in corporate management. He served as the chief executive of Rustan Supercenters Inc. and was a director at Wm Morrison Supermarkets Ltd. from 2015 to 2016. He also had a stint as a director at Rose Pharmacy Inc. and as the vice president of Procter and Gamble’s Northern Europe Region.
Lee completed his Bachelor’s degree at De La Salle University.
