Leading food manufacturer Universal Robina Corporation (URC) expanded its industry footprint with the inauguration of its new flour mill in Km. 10 in Sasa, Davao City on Thursday, March 21.
URC spent over a billion for the development and pioneered the first and only flour mill in Southern Mindanao and only the second URC flour mill in the mill in the country.
“As one of the top flour millers in the country, URC has chosen strategically to locate here when we opened in 1993 and be sole flour plant South Mindanao because of our foremost belief in the prospect for growth that will be spurred by developments in this region,” JG Summit Holdings CEO Lance Gokongwei, in his speech, said.
The new flour plant, established inside the sprawling 1.34-hectare complex of URC plant, is fitted with state-of-the-art equipment designed and supplied by BUHLER using Swiss technology.
From wheat intake to bagged flour palletizing the process is fully-automated, thus, it increases the new plant’s milling capacity from 600 metric tons to 900 metric tons of high-quality flour per day.
“More volume to sell, more target to discover which makes us really globally competitive,” Naida Ebora, Sales, Marketing and Distribution Director for URC, said.
With the expanded capacity in Davao, URC, in a nutshell, can produce a capacity of 2,150 metric tons daily for both Davao and Pasig mills.
URC flour has been in the industry for 49 years and is one of the top flour millers in the country. It is committed to serve high quality flour to the growing demand of the baking industry.
This division supplies flour products to URC’s Branded Consumer Foods Division for its Magic Flakes Presto and Nissin Instant Noodles food brands.
“It is fueled by our desire to help support the growth in the area and be vital catalyst to spur export business in the Southeast Asia region from this part of the Philippines,” Gokongwei said.
As one of the industry’s leaders, Gokongwei said URC has also been active in supporting the communities that surround its mills.
“It adopted six schools in Davao through its Flourish Pilipinas campaign, providing multi-media toolkits for senior high-school teachers and students for their bread and pastry production, It has further donated a year’s supply of flour to these schools,” the CEO added.
URC Davao currently has 247 employees and will soon offer more local job opportunities as it starts commercialization for the company’s new lines.
With the latest addition to the business landscape of Davao City, Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, who was represented by vice mayor Bernard Al-ag, expressed her gratitude to URC for choosing Davao City to become part of its continuous growth.
Her message read: “I would like to acknowledge the people working behind URC for the time and efforts you have poured in your job and for the talents you have shared with your company which is instrumental in providing excellent quality products and services to your customers all over the country.”
“This event is a proof of the hard work and determination you exert in the conduct of your profession and in exploring new horizons for your company,” the mayor said.
Mayor Duterte is also hopeful that this new plant will invigorate its team to continue on maintaining a sustainable business environment for its customors, stakeholders and positively contribute to the socio-economic development of the communities where it operates.
