Screengrab from https://www2.urc.com.ph/
SINGAPORE—Jack ‘n Jill snacks maker Universal Robina Corp. (URC) is confident of its prospects in Myanmar, the last highly populated Southeast Asian market that the company has yet to penetrate.
This is part of the company’s ambition to become one of the most recognizable companies in Southeast Asia as the region starts economic integration by 2015.
URC, which manufactures a range of products from Cream-O cookies to C2 green tea drinks, said it started selling goods made in the company’s plants in Thailand to the 60-million strong Burmese market, starting with major cities like Yangon and Mandalay.
The company is also expected to start work on its $30-million factory in Myanmar soon, significantly reducing the cost and increasing its margins for products sold to locals.
“Myanmar is the last highly populated country in the region we haven’t tapped,” URC vice-president for corporate planning and investor relations Mike Liwanag said. Speaking at the sidelines of the Invest Asean forum held here this week.
“Our vision is to become one of the largest pan-Asian snackfoods and beverage companies,” Liwanag said. Last year, the company’s sales in the region reached $1.5 billion. The firm wants to double this to $3 billion in five years.
Liwanag said the company has formed a joint venture with a Burmese firm, the same company currently distributing Jack n’ Jill products in the country, for the construction of its manufacturing facility. URC owns 95 percent of the joint venture.
Across the region, Liwanag said the company would expand its current manufacturing capacity in various facilities by 10 to 30 percent, depending on demand.