Dansk Droge sets sights on Polish market
the Polish market with the acquisition last week of Poland-based
distributor Amis Medica.
The Copenhagen company, which makes the leading ginseng brand Gerimax, is already well-established on the Polish market, distributing its products through Amis Medica for the past 10 years.
Poland currently generates around €8 million of its annual turnover but this is expected to increase significantly with the aquisition allowing Dansk Droge to launch new products and strengthen its presence on the market.
"Poland is already a very advanced market, and as competitive as any of the west European ones," Henrik Gundelach, managing director of Dansk Droge, told NutraIngredients.com. "The range of products looks very much like what you find in France or Germany with all of the multinational firms present there."
"But we're already well established in this market and have a platform from which we can expand," he added.
Dansk Droge holds around 25 per cent of the Danish nutritional supplements market and is also strong in Norway and Sweden, where it bought the distributor Active Care earlier this year.
This, and the recent acquisition, are designed to manoeuvre the company into the top slot of the Scandinavian and Eastern European markets. Eastern Europe represents a significantly higher growth opportunity however, with the market growing rapidly.Food supplements, nutritional products and other OTCpharmacy products grew by 4.9 per cent in Poland between 2002-2003, according to IMS, and by 28 per cent since 2000.
Amis Medica, which imports, markets and sells natural remedies and nutritional supplements mainly to pharmacies, also has a small office in the Czech Republic, selling energy and skincare products.
"We will expand that range [in the Czech Republic] although our main focus is in Poland," said Grunelach.
The company also sells its products throughout Eastern Europe through other distributors.
Following a number of recent acquisitions, including the sports nutrition supplier Scandinavian Pro Products earlier this year, Dansk Droge's turnover is now worth around €65 million. It is part-owned by Polaris Private Equity.
