Uriach consolidates its expansion and strengthens its position as a benchmark player on the European Consumer Healthcare market

The Barcelona-based company, which owns recognised brands such as Aquilea, Fisiocrem, Laborest and Cannabix, has acquired Sidroga, a German company of products based on natural formulations with a presence on the DACH market of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the main niche for consumer healthcare products.

Uriach’s European expansion and growth plan prioritizes France to continue its growth and weighs up the potential offered by Scandinavian countries

Uriach’s turnover in 2020 rose to 240 million euros (+5%) while the Consumer Healthcare (CHC) business increased to 165 million euros (+17%)

Uriach, which was founded over 180 years ago, has taken a further step in its growth and internationalization strategy, which positions it as a major European player on the Natural Consumer Healthcare market. Over the last decade, the company, which is based in the cosmopolitan, innovative Barcelona area, has boosted its growth both organically and inorganically and embarked upon a large-scale transformation of its strategic orientation to move progressively away from medical prescription products and focus on the Natural Consumer Healthcare business.

In 2020, despite all the difficulties caused by the Covid pandemic, Uriach’s overall turnover grew to 240 million euros, a growth of +5% over and above the previous year. Specifically, the Consumer Healthcare business registered an increase of +17% on 2019, and reported a turnover of nearly 165 million euros.

In the last six years, Uriach has acquired three major companies in Italy (Laborest, Progine and AR Fitofarma) and one in Portugal (Theralab). The company headed by Oriol Segarra has now begun 2021 with the acquisition of Sidroga, a German company that develops and manufactures products based on natural formulations and has a turnover of nearly 60 million euros. The operation, which was basically self-financed and is Uriach’s largest ever acquisition, offers Uriach access to the DACH market, which includes Germany -the main food supplements market-, Switzerland, and Austria, where Sidroga has two subsidiaries. After this operation, in accordance with its strategic expansion plan, the company continues to eye the French market and weigh up the potential of Scandinavian countries.

Uriach’s goal remains working towards leading the Natural Consumer Healthcare niche in Europe. The results of the last few years and both organic and inorganic growth point to how this firm determination is becoming a reality and has now turned Uriach into a company with one of the most innovative portfolios and the largest footprint in Europe. In the coming years, it will steadfastly continue this path towards growth until it has fulfilled its ambition.

Uriach’s expansion in Europe over the last six years and the positioning of recognized brands on the European market

Uriach began its European expansion in 2015 with the purchase of benchmark companies on the food supplements market in different countries. In 2015, it acquired Laborest, an Italian company that markets highly sophisticated and innovative products through medical reps. It continued its expansion in Portugal in 2017 with the acquisition of the company Theralab, whose portfolio includes brands such as Depuralina, the leading weight loss product on the Portuguese market. In the second phase of the internationalization process and as part of its 2018-2022 Strategic Plan, Uriach acquired a further two companies in Italy. One was Progine, a company with a clear vocation for women’s well-being, and the other was AR Fitofarma, which markets food supplements for children.

In 2021, it has further strengthened its positioning as a European benchmark for consumer healthcare products with the acquisition of Sidroga in Germany, whose portfolio includes historic and leading brands on the German market such as Sidroga, the brand from which the company gets its name, Ems, a broad range of natural products for treating respiratory and winter health conditions, and the Emcur and Valverde brands.

Over the last few years, it has broadened its product portfolio with the purchase of recognised brands such as Fisiocrem, an innovative natural extract-based product line specialized in relieving muscle and ligament pain. Fisiocrem certainly complements Uriach’s existing recognised brands such as Aquilea, a benchmark for its broad range of natural health products that boost well-being in different areas including rest, digestion, respiratory tracts, and joints; and Cannabix, an innovative cream that brings skin relief and comfort that was named product of 2020 by consumers.