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2011-07-25Summarizing the 20 years of company’s history – an interview with president Aleksander Żurek
The founder and sole owner of Salus International, an important pharmaceutical wholesaler, who graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy at Mikołaj Kopernik Medical Academy in Kraków and then worked as an assistant lecturer at the Academy’s Department of Chemical Technology of Drugs. In the 1980s, he decided to travel to Austria and became one of few Polish pharmacists with pharmaceutical experience gained abroad. How did you manage that during a time when it was difficult for the graduates of Polish universities to work in their profession in the West?
I was lucky because the Medical Academy in Kraków, where I obtained the Master of Pharmacy degree in the 1970s, was one of two Polish medical universities (the other one was in Warsaw) whose curriculum was valid in Austria. I only had to get my diploma officially recognized, which was not difficult, as there were few differences in the curricula taught in Kraków and Vienna. I only worked on my Latin.
At first, it was a shock for me, and not only because I had not served my internship in a Polish pharmacy. Back then, the products available in the Western pharmacies were completely different than those in Poland, the trade names of the medicines were different and the patients I met were also different than Poles. I worked in four pharmacies and the last one was the biggest pharmacy in Vienna.
Despite that, you decided to no longer work as a pharmacist and start your own wholesale company in Poland. Were you not afraid?
I was afraid. That is why, I initially remained a part-time employee of the Vienna pharmacy (2/10 FTE). I was there every Friday and Saturday. It was not until two years later that I came to the conclusion that Salus International can support me, so I focused on my operations in Poland.
Describe the beginnings, please.
The investment was somewhat risky. The market was unsaturated. Early 1990s was the time when the first private pharmaceutical wholesale companies were established. Back then, the only wholesale company in the market was the state-owned Cefarm, which could not keep up with deliveries. The pharmacists began to seek suppliers themselves and they found me. Wholesale companies resembled hypermarkets as the pharmacists were arriving in their cars to pick up medicines from the warehouse. This is how medicines were sold until 1994. At first, the company owned two cars used for transporting medicines from abroad to Poland.
How many pharmacies cooperated with the company after the first year in business?
About 50 retail pharmacies from Silesia.
How did you come up with the name?
The name of the company referred to the Rybnik-based Salus tannery, established in the 1920s by my grandfather and his brothers, which operated until 1947, when it was closed down. By naming my wholesale company Salus, I wanted to pay homage to my ancestors and to make a reference to the continuity of family business.
What future did you see for your company during those difficult times?
From day one, Salus International was to be a wholesale company that supplies retail pharmacies in the Silesian region. This has never changed. However, with time, we did enter new areas of business. Currently, supplying hospitals is our second area of great importance. This specialization is largely a result of the company’s history. Back in 1995, the company became a representative of Lachema-Brno and Ebewe Pharma, manufacturers of cancer medicines. More and more entities started to perceive us as a company which introduces such products into the market effectively.
Another important area of business is the distribution of dental products. We are also involved in the so-called pre-wholesale which, however, we gradually replace with the distribution of our own products – dietary supplements and medical materials. In addition, we constantly look for market niches, i.e. areas of little interest to the biggest players or those which they have trouble exploiting. There are many examples. We established subsidiaries in the Czech Republic and the Ukraine. Every year, we take Polish pharmacists to the largest international pharmaceutical fair in Europe called Expopharm as well as the Pharmacon trainings in Davos, Switzerland and Merano, Italy, organized under the patronage of the German Pharmaceutical Chamber. For five years, in cooperation with the Polish Pharmaceutical Chamber and the Polish Pharmaceutical Society, we have been organizing international pharmaceutical conferences, including the International Educational/Training Conference for Pharmacists and the Polish Medical/Pharmaceutical Conference.
What is interesting, we also run a specialized wholesale company offering wines from an Austrian vineyard we lease. For now, the four types of wine in our portfolio are available to pharmacists and doctors for marketing purposes, but who knows how this business will develop in the future.
Was your wine wholesale company established to fill a market niche?
That is correct. I learned to appreciate wine while living in Austria for ten-odd years. In Austria, people go to places called Heuriger, where they eat meals and drink the Heuriger wine. I tried to transfer this custom of drinking wine with a meal to Poland and I think I succeeded to some extent. In addition, when I read the book titled “Być zdrowym przez wino” [Stay healthy thanks to wine] and learned more about wine, I decided to promote it in Poland. I treated this particular wholesale company as a marketing activity and I prepared an offer for our customers, including a pharmacist’s Christmas wine, a pharmacist’s Easter wine and a pharmacist’s fireplace wine. Wine has been a part of the pharmacist profession for ages. In the 11th century, pharmacists made different types of wine in their pharmacies as well as medicines based on wine, so they were also involved in storage. It was the pharmacists who supplied to royal and princely courts as well as rich townsmen from the 11th to 14th century. That is why we offer pharmacist’s wine for different occasions as a reference to the tradition of medicinal wines produced by pharmacists.
For how many retail pharmacies is Salus International the leading supplier? What is the company’s market share?
Currently, the largest part of our sales, i.e. about 30%, is generated by supplies to 400 retail and 200 hospital pharmacies. We are the first or second supplier for about 400 open pharmacies. The initial principle was to supply to locations within 100 km from our headquarters so that, if needed, we could provide each customer with full service twice a day. However, as we specialize in directs imports (in additional to our pre-wholesale operations), we also supply pharmacies in more distant regions, including Warsaw and Szczecin. Today, we supply medicines to hospital pharmacies across Poland as well as retail pharmacies in the following provinces: Świętokrzyskie [Holy Cross], Śląskie [Silesian], Dolnośląskie [Lower Silesian], Opolskie [Opole], Małopolskie [Lesser Poland], Mazowieckie [Mazovian], Łódzkie [Łódź], Lubuskie [Lubusz], and Lubelskie [Lublin].
Do you plan to expand your business by opening new branches in other cities?
When it comes to supplying to pharmacies, the idea behind the company was clear-cut – a regional wholesale company. At first, we focused on supplying to pharmacies within 100 km from our headquarters. Today, we extend our reach and provide medicines to Polish pharmacies in the Świętokrzyskie [Holy Cross], Łódzkie [Łódź], Opolskie [Opole], Dolnośląskie [Lower Silesian], Śląskie [Silesian] and Małopolskie [Lesser Poland] provinces and we also have partnership locations e.g. in Świnoujście and Gdańsk. Not so long ago, we opened a branch in Nowy Sącz, which supplies to open pharmacies from the Subcarpathian region. I believe company expansion has its limits. Individual customer approach would be impossible if our company became a huge monster. I think that, when it comes to open pharmacies, the right direction is to remain a regional wholesale company focused on Southern Poland with some additional locations in large cities. Over the next year, we will definitely increase our warehouse space.
Do you plan to extend your offer?
I will always look for market niches, i.e. new markets abroad, in the Czech Republic, the Ukraine or Lithuania. These are the countries where we have established companies involved in import and export. I am certainly not going to open new pharmacies in Poland and incorporate them into a chain, because that is not what my company is about. I follow the market situation, which clearly shows, as exemplified by the United States, that pharmacy chains did not really proved to be successful. As a result of monopolization in the U.S., the prices of medicines in this country are among the highest worldwide. It may be thus concluded that chains do not produce the expected results. What is characteristic of our company is that we supply to pharmacists comprehensively. For several years, we have been supplying specialist equipment and programs for preparing some medicines to hospitals. Among others, we are the Polish distributor of the CYPRO computer program for preparing cytotoxic products. Perhaps our offer will be extended to include equipment for distributing medicines inside the hospital (unit dose). I am also considering launching the sales of medical materials and our own products, including the SALUS NATURA dietary supplement and the SOPELEK nasal aspirator for infants, across the EU. In addition, I am planning to introduce more specialist trainings and trips abroad for pharmacists and doctors, which the company has been organizing for almost 10 years.
For years, Salus International has been organizing trips for Polish pharmacists to the Pharmacon trainings and the Expopharm fair. Why did you decide to promote trainings for pharmacists on a large scale?
It all began with the EU directive which required that all medical professions introduce the so-called life-long training. That is why, I wanted to meet the customers’ needs and, seeing that the German Pharmaceutical Chamber had been organizing specialist trainings in Davos and Merano, the Expopharm pharmaceutical fair and other events for decades, I decided to use my experience in these areas. This is how the idea was born for organizing the Polish/German Conference for Pharmacists, with substantial participation of German lecturers and guests. Today, it is an international conference. Our company is responsible for establishing contact between Polish organizations (Ptfarm, NIA) and corresponding foreign organizations. We also help Polish pharmacists participate in the EAHP congresses.
The company also supports health-related campaigns and initiatives aimed at protecting and promoting health.
We support many initiatives. In particular, we support universities, schools, hospitals, foundations and associations. In 2008, we were involved in a campaign titled “Stop Lekomanii” [No More Pill-Popping], which aimed at explaining the impact of natural vitamins and mineral ingredients on the immune system as well as making people aware of the advertisements of medicines, which are generally believed to be necessary in everyday life. Meanwhile, in 2009, we implemented our own special educational program titled “Przede wszystkim zdrowe zęby” [Clean teeth above all], designed for all adult patients and their children. Its objective was to help promote oral care in its broad sense, in accordance with the WHO resolution, which points to the close connection between oral care, general health and the quality of patients’ life as part of preventive medicine. In addition, we support independent pharmacists by offering them the marketing support program titled “Ta Apteka To Zdrowie I Opieka” [This Pharmacy Stands For Health And Care]. It was launched three years ago to answer the marketing initiatives of other wholesalers and pharmacy chains. We try to provide our partners with tools necessary to fight against chains. Unlike competitors’ ideas, the program titled “Ta Apteka To Zdrowie I Opieka” [This Pharmacy Stands For Health And Care] offers patients, for example, preventive checkups. Each patient collects points, while we arrange their visit at the nearest outpatient clinic. We take social responsibility very seriously. That is why we established our own foundation to help us provide more support to different initiatives aimed at protecting and promoting health.
The Polish wholesale market is consolidating. Is Salus International going to take part in this process?
Our philosophy is completely different. We do not want to participate in market consolidation. We want to remain an independent wholesale company.
How would you summarize the 20 years of company’s history?
The company has grown beyond my expectations. There are many factors that made it possible. Above all, the right people in the right positions, individual customer approach, paying attention to customers’ needs and problems as well as making the right decisions and investments at the right time. Thanks to the hard work and commitment of our growing number of partners, we are ready to face even the gravest of challenges every year.
Thank you for this interview. Aleksandra Puzyno