MANILA - Consumer snacks and beverage firm Universal Robina Corp (URC) is introducing two pharmaceutical grade rubbing alcohol brands to support the country's fight against COVID-19, it said on Tuesday.
URC said Shield+ and BioSure brands will both be made available to retail and community stores in December.
The company known for popular snacks and beverage brands Great Taste, Chippy, C2, Cream-O and Cloud 9, among others said its entry into the rubbing alcohol market was driven by the high demand for hygiene and sanitation products in light of the pandemic.
URC said this demand will likely remain, even after a vaccine is available.
"This is aligned with our core values of looking after the Filipino community, in light of the ongoing pandemic. We have the capability, and we want to help. There’s demand out there. It just makes sense," said Vincent Go, managing director of URC’s agro-industrial group (AIG) in a statement.
URC's Agro-Industrial & Commodities (AIC) Division will produce these rubbing alcohol brands, sourcing the ethanol ingredient from La Carlota Distillery in Negros Occidental, a sugar mill and bio-ethanol distillery plant under URC’s Sugar and Renewables (SURE) unit.
The rubbing alcohol category was valued at a total of P4.1 billion last year. The pandemic transformed this market, propping up sales by 76 percent to P1.8 billion only in the first quarter of this year.
Universal Robina Corp., URC, rubbing alcohol, alcohol, health, sanitation, COVID-19, coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19 pandemic, Shield+, BioSure, Chippy, ANC