Private labels of the major grocery retail chains now account for 12% to 13% of the market, which means annual sales of almost EUR3 billion, and pharmacy chains’ own brands are now starting to gain ground.
Catena, the largest pharmaceutical retailer, launched the Naturalis brand in 2005, which it uses for 35 food supplements and Sensiblu, the second largest, launched the Dr. Hart products at the end of 2014, which now include 50 food supplements. The two networks have been promoting their own brands more actively lately, which are available only in their more than 1,300 pharmacies throughout the country.
The pharmaceutical retailers do not have their own production facilities, so they have their private label products made in pharmaceutical plants in Romania or abroad and have no plans to do manufacturing on their own yet.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)