Universal Robina Corporation (URC), one of the largest branded consumer food and beverage product companies in the Philippines, has revealed interesting figures on the performance of its individual brands. The data came to light, thanks to Thomson StreetEvents’ Q4 2018 Universal Robina Corp Earnings Call (28 February 2019) published on 30 April 2019. URC fiscal year ends on 31 December.
We now know the following:
- “Noodles, our Nissin joint venture, completed a very strong year, in total growing by plus 10% versus year ago. And this was mainly driven by our Payless brand in both pouch and cups segments.”
- “Ready-to-drink tea recovered growth in quarter 4 to plus 8%, ending the year at plus 6% growth. For the full year, volumes were negatively impacted by the sugar tax. But given the pass-through of the sugar tax, overall net sales was still positive. “
- “Coffee declined by 16% for the full year. Steady sales was posted in the previous months, which continued into quarter 4″
- ” Our joint venture with Danone grew sales by 24% versus last year in the fourth quarter. The entire year, though, was down about 15% as the B’lue brand was — suffered from the sugar tax implementation. “
- “Vitasoy also grew strongly, plus 72% for the full year, plus 14% for quarter 4, and was driven by strong campaigns into introduction of our soy milk products. “
- ” On Calbee, which is our premium potato snack brand, we posted a very strong growth of plus 24% for the full year. And this was driven mainly by a very successful honey butter flavor, which tripled its size from — since its launch in 2017. “
