Chairman's
Message
2019 marked an important pivot year for URC, with a return to strong topline and profit growth after some years of difficult challenges. The step-back we did in 2018, with changes in URC’s Leadership line-up and a strategy refresh, is starting to bear fruit. I firmly believe that we have now set a strong base that will anchor a multi-year transformation, in line with our vision to make URC a leading food & beverage sustainable enterprise from the Philippines.
A continued focus on executing the new set of sound strategies will be critical in what we expect to be an ever-increasing level of competitive intensity, now exacerbated by more uncertainty brought upon us by the latest pandemic crisis. This environment requires us to step up our customer-centricity and operational excellence. I am pleased to see very good progress across URC in building a sharper focus on the consumer to underpin our innovation process, leading to more compelling brand initiatives. Alongside this increased consumer focus, we are also making major strides in transforming our product supply chain and becoming more preferred partners of choice amongst our customers and suppliers.
“ I firmly believe that we have now set a strong base that will anchor a multi-year transformation, in line with our vision to make URC a leading food & beverage sustainable enterprise from the Philippines. "
“ I firmly believe that we have now set a strong base that will anchor a multi-year transformation, in line with our vision to make URC a leading food & beverage sustainable enterprise from the Philippines. "
The integrated delivery of all these strategic focus areas achieved double-digit growth in our two largest businesses in the Philippines – the successful restage of Great Taste Coffee, and the capacity expansion supporting market share gains in Jack n’ Jill Snacks. In 2019, the resurgence of our Philippine Branded Consumer Foods business, the margin and profit improvements in International, and the continued strong growth of Agro-Industrial & Commodities, provide ample evidence of what sound strategies, executed with excellence, can deliver.
Last year also marked an important milestone in URC’s sustainable enterprise journey to embed and integrate critical ESG (Environment, Social & Governance) initiatives into the business. Building a “People & Planet Friendly Culture” is our #1 How-to-Win strategy. After an intense period of baselining and enterprise-wide engagement in 2018/19, we formally communicated our 2030 targets in key materiality areas of Natural Resources, People and Product, aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We believe that this is the right direction to be one step ahead in managing risks across our value chain and stakeholders. One example is the progress made in Year 1 in water-use-ratio and energy-use-ratio. The initial reductions made in these areas have been very encouraging and contributed to the LEAN Manufacturing Excellence cost savings program.
“ Looking ahead, I am excited to see URC’s transformation plans bring more consumer-driven choices come to life; and deliver more shared success to all stakeholders. ”
“ Looking ahead, I am excited to see URC’s transformation plans bring more consumer-driven choices come to life; and deliver more shared success to all stakeholders. ”
“ My role as chairman is to provide the URC Leadership Team advice, guidance and full support to drive URC's strategic agenda in the company’s transformation journey. I’m pleased with the management interaction cadence we have developed within URC. ”
Maraming Salamat Po.
Lance Y. Gokongwei
CHAIRMAN
