The precursor to Universal Robina Corporation was founded in 1954 by John Gokongwei, Jr. Gokongwei decided to construct a corn milling plant to produce glucose and cornstarch, Universal Corn Products. Later, to diversify by producing and marketing his own branded consumer foods, in 1961 Consolidated Food Corporation was established. Their first product was Blend 45, the first locally manufactured coffee blend, dubbed as the “Pinoy coffee”. This became the largest-selling coffee brand in the market, even beating market leaders Café Puro and Nescafé. After coffee, came Nips chocolate candies, a panned chocolate similar to M&M's, was a staple of Filipino childhood. In 1963, Robina Farms began operations beginning with poultry products. This was also the beginning of the vertical integration of the Gokongwei businesses, as the farms would be able to purchase feeds from UCP in the future. Later that decade, Robichem Laboratories would be put up, to cater to the veterinary needs of the farms businesses. Robina Farms expanded as it entered the hogs business in the latter part of the 70s. 1966 saw the establishment of Universal Robina Corporation, which pioneered the savory snacks industry in the Philippines with its Jack 'n Jill snacks - Potato Chips, Chiz Curls and Chippy. Other snack products would follow, like Jack 'n Jill Pretzels, Piattos, and Maxx. In the early 1970s, the Gokongwei family entered the commodities business through the formation of Continental Milling Corporation, for flour milling and production. The late 1980s brought the acquisition of three sugar mills and refineries, under URC Sugar. These two businesses provided stable cash flows, and allowed for further vertical integration in the supply chain. In line with this strategy, the late 1990s saw the entry of URC into the plastics business, through URC Packaging. In 2005, the present structure of the group was adopted, organized under Universal Robina Corporation, divided into three focused groups:
the Branded Consumer Foods Group, composed of BCFG Domestic and URC International, for the production and sale of snacks, beverage, and grocery products,
the Agro-Industrial Group, composed of Universal Corn Products, Robina Farms, and Robichem, for the production and sale of animal feeds, day-old chicks, hogs, and veterinary medicine,
and the Commodity Foods Group, with the Sugar and Flour divisions, for the production of flour and sugar, and for sugar milling and refining services.
