Add to cart or add to scares? URC’s interactive Halloween live selling lets you control a horror story

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This Halloween, horrors lurk in every corner. Some would decorate their house with different kinds of ghosts, ghouls, skeletons, and other supernatural creatures, along with friendly Jack o’ Lanterns. There are others who might be streaming scary movies as early as now to really bring in the spooky vibe.

Score up to 30% discount when shop for your favorite snacks and drinks via URC’s “Dead Selling III: Livestream ng Lagim” this October 23.

Your TikTok feed also isn’t safe from jump scares. As everyone prepares for the Halloween season with their favorite snacks and creative costumes, you can have your own interactive experience with “Livestream ng Lagim,” the third run of Universal Robina Corporation’s (URC) “Dead Selling” activity, starting on October 23, 2025.

This three-episode online live selling event will feature spooky ghost stories and must-grab deals which includes up to 30% discount on select URC goodies. Starring in each episode are popular TikTok creators with ghost characters waiting to curse them throughout the stream. Livestream ng Lagim will let you play as the co-director who decides if the streamers get saved or plunged deeper into the darkness. With every purchase of popular URC products, like C2 Cool and Clean, Great Taste White, Jack ‘n Jill Presto Creams, and Nips, before each flash sale ends, viewers get to choose what happens next in the stream. The streamers’ fate is in your hands, so choose carefully.

It’s about to get spooky with URC’s interactive live selling activity, “Livestream ng Lagim,” 

this October 23, 2025.

Horrors aside, this is also the perfect time to stock up on the Halloween treats to give away to kids and friends with URC’s delightful range of snacks and drinks. These are also great for your horror movie marathons with loved ones. Keep an eye out for 24 flash deals with up to 30% off, and free shipping and discount vouchers. The more you buy, the more you can save.

Universal Robina Corporation’s (URC) “Dead Selling” activity in 2024 featured Filipino mythical creatures as livesellers who offered an exciting horror experience to customers.

URC’s Dead Selling is an award-winning initiative that bagged the Bronze prize in Creative Commerce at the 2024 Kidlat Awards. Just like its first two runs, the upcoming Livestream ng Lagim will be an experiential shopping activity that will make you add to cart or add to the scares.

Be part of this interactive horror experience! Catch the three Livestream ng Lagim episodes on URC’s TikTok on October 23 (from 5pm to 9pm), 28 (from 5pm to 9pm), and 30 (from 8pm to 12 midnight). See how these modern-day ghost stories will end.

For more information on how you can make your Halloween extra special, visit URC’s website and like their official Facebook page.

URC brands are still top picks among Filipino homes

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Six brands made by food and beverage firm Universal Robina Corp. (URC) are still among the top choices among millions of Filipino households, according to brand consulting firm Kantar Group’s Brand Footprint report

Three of these brands – C2, Nissin and Cream All – rose in rankings in the yearly study.

Great Taste is among the top 10 most chosen brands in Total FMCG and Beverages sector while Piattos remains among the most chosen food brands.

Payless, meanwhile, landed in the list of 20 most chosen food brands for the first time.

“We are happy to see that our well-loved brands are reaching even more Filipinos, delighting them with good food choices everyday,” said Mian David, URC’s chief marketing officer and managing director of URC International.

“This report also inspires us to continue giving Pinoys products of superior quality and value. Indeed, Great Taste, C2,Piattos, Payless, Nissin and Cream All are just some of our brands loved by Filipinos across generations,” she added.

Kantar’s Brand Footprint study uses a metric called “consumer reach points” (CRP), which measures a brand’s strength based on how many shoppers are buying the brand and how often.

It essentially shows which brands are winning at the point of purchase.

“Filipinos are now spending more on FMCG, presenting a bigger opportunity for more brands to win. Among these brands, many of them are able to do so with improved penetration,” said Mieke Bartholomeus, Strategic Insights Director at Kantar’s Worldpanel Division.

URC’s Great Taste coffee – with 440m CRP – ranked 8th among fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), and fourth in the beverages sector.

Ready-to-drink tea C2’s CRP rose 25 per cent to 32m, making it the 14th most chosen brand in the beverages sector.

The number of households that bought C2 rose by some 281,000 in 2023, with better presence in groceries, sari-sari stores and market stalls.

In the food sector, snack brand Piattos held on to the 7th spot, while Nissin instant noodles climbed to No. 16.

Another instant noodles brand, Payless, broke into the list of Top 20 brands in the segment with a CRP of 74m, landing in 19th place in the food sector and 50th among FMCG brands.

Core variant Payless Xtra Big is still a big draw, while the still small, newly-launched Payless Sakto is already driving traction for the brand.

Cream All went up to No. 19 in the dairy sector.

As part of Kantar, Worldpanel provides brands and retailers with a unique, 360-degree understanding of consumer behavior across the globe. Worldpanel continuously monitors shopping behavior to shape the brands of tomorrow by better understanding people everywhere.

URC produces iconic brands such as Great Taste, C2 Cool & Clean, Piattos, Maxx candy and Cream-O cookies, which have been part of Filipinos’ lives for decades. One of the country’s largest food and beverage manufacturers, URC also has significant, and growing, presence in ASEAN. Its leading regional brands include Lexus, Tivoli and Fun-O.

Brands from food and beverage firm Universal Robina Corp. (URC) continue to be among the top choices among millions of Filipino households, according to brand consulting firm Kantar Group’s Brand Footprint report

Bike for Good: Baker John partners with GMA Kapuso Foundation for Livelihood Project

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Baker John, Universal Robina Corporation’s (URC) brand of bread, recently teamed up with GMA Kapuso Foundation for the “Bike for Good” project. Through this partnership, 30 beneficiaries will receive bikes and bread products from Baker John.

“Our goal is to provide assistance to those who are trying to adapt to this new, challenging situation in the time of the COVID pandemic. Through this partnership, we hope the beneficiaries selected by GMA Kapuso Foundation will have the will -- and the wheels -- to keep going,” said Ellison Lee, URC Flour and Bread Division’s Managing Director.

 According to Lee, the Bike for Good project provides each of the 30 beneficiaries with a bicycle and a negosyo starter package consisting of Baker John products. “We want to assist them in kicking off their community selling business which can help them with their livelihood,” Lee shared.

TEAMING UP FOR BIKE FOR GOOD. Rikki Escudero-Catibog, GMA Kapuso Foundation Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, (left) and Ellison Lee, URC Flour and Bread Division Managing Director sign the agreement formalizing the partnership for the Bike for Good livelihood donation.

In choosing the beneficiaries, the project prioritizes those who lost their livelihood due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as residents of Metro Manila and Rizal who have lost their source of income due to the typhoons Rolly and/or Ulysses.

PROVIDING LIVELIHOOD THROUGH WHEELS: GMA Kapuso Foundation Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (left) Rikki Escudero-Catibog together with URC Flour and Bread Division Managing Director Ellison Lee check the bread-and-bike livelihood package from Baker John for the Bike for Good beneficiaries.

Apart from this, GMA Kapuso Foundation chose beneficiaries who are physically able, have the can do spirit, and willing to use the bicycle to sell Baker John’s bread in their community as a source of alternative livelihood for their family.

“COVID and typhoon Ulysses brought economic devastation to residents of NCR. GMA Kapuso Foundation is happy to help Baker John and URC find beneficiaries. It is a very difficult time but in time of great adversity there is also opportunity. Do not lose hope,” stated Ms. Rikki Escudero-Catibog, GMA Kapuso Foundation’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

Baker John is URC’s very own line of tasty premium bread products available in selected Robinsons, Rustan’s, Shopwise, and Walter Mart supermarkets, and Ministop branches nationwide. Visit www.urcflour.com today for more information.

  

URC-Thailand cited as among the best companies to work for in Asia

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Universal Robina Corporation’s (URC) subsidiary in Thailand has been named as among the “Best Companies to Work for in Asia”, for a work culture that values its employees as key resources. 

The award was given by HR Asia, regarded as an authoritative regional publisher on human resources. 

URC (Thailand) Co. Ltd. was among 38 companies to be recognized out of a field of 138 firms. 

The URC Thailand team. In photo (L-R): URC Talent Management & Organization Development Manager Thinathip Sukpluem; Marketing Director Jane Bernardo; General Manager Tanant Suwanraks; HR Director Matthew Dy; Senior Advisor Premchai Navarasuchitr; QA and
 QMS Manager Boonyarat Chunet; and Media and
PR Marketing Manager Pornsulee Piboonsatsanasakul 

The companies were selected through a survey that measured different aspects of employee engagement. This covered culture and ethics, leadership and organization, active initiatives, emotional engagement, employee intention and motivation, behavior and advocacy, collective consciousness, workplace sentiment, and team dynamics. 

“One of the reasons for our company’s sustainable momentum is the high priority we place on all our employees as key resources,” said Matthew Dy, URC-Thailand’s HR director, who received the award. 

“We promote a culture of openness and collaboration where all employees are always given the opportunity to develop their individual performance and contribute to the business objectives,” he said.

 

Dy said this is done via a “robust performance management system, career planning and individual development plans” aimed at creating a “future-ready organization”. 

“We cultivate a sense of belongingness through relevant workplace initiatives, advocating social responsibility and consistently instilling our core values. This ensures that our employees continue to deliver high-quality products and services that genuinely bring delight and joy for our consumers,” he said. 

Established over 20 years ago, URC Thailand manufactures and exports brands such as Jack ‘n Jill Fun-O, Tivoli, Roller Coaster, Lausanne, Dewberry, Dynamite and Lush. 

It has a factory, research and development center and warehouses at the Samutsakorn Industrial Estate, and a head office in Bangkok. 

URC is one of the Philippines’ largest food and beverage companies, producing popular brands such as C2, Great Taste, Piattos, Cream-O, Maxx, Nova and Nissin. URC is also a major player in agro-industrial and commodities. 

Matthew Dy, HR Director of URC (Thailand) Co., Ltd. receives the award from Virote Sirichanthanont, VP of Government and International Relations of the Personnel Management Association of Thailand (PMAT).