Its owners, the Oprea and Gorcea families, plan to keep sales at the same level as last year and potentially expand the network with two pharmacies on a competitive market with significant appetite from major networks for acquisitions.
“The pharmaceutical retail market continues the concentration trend of the last few years. The entry of new competitors on the market, through acquisition of small chains, which have direct access to pharmaceutical products via the wholesalers they own, have increased competition and reduced the accessibility of products,” said Radu Oprea, one of the Ducfarm shareholders.
Most Ducfarm pharmacies are in Cluj-Napoca – 14. The rest of them are in Oradea, Baia Mare, Zalau, Turda and Floresti.
Pharmaceutical retail reached RON19 billion sales in 2019, generated by more than 5,000 companies. Catena is the biggest actor, with 800 pharmacies, followed by Dr. Max and Sensiblu of Penta Investments, about 700.(EUR1=RON4.7646)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)