Aboca, an Italian firm specializing in food supplements made from plants, will celebrate in 2023 the twentieth anniversary of its landing in Spain with record growth and the start of scientific collaboration with the Vall d’Hebron hospital in Barcelona. Massimo Mercati, CEO and son of the founder of the Italian group, explained that the firm is growing 30% this year in Spain, which has already become its second largest market, after his native Italy.
The family business had a turnover of 210 million euros last year, of which Spain contributed 32 million, and expects to close this year with sales in our country of 42 million, of which 6.5 will correspond to Catalonia.
“We manufacture non-prescription, natural and biodegradable medicines, both the product and the continent, with an integrated production chain: from the seed and the organic crop to the final product”, explains Mercati. The company manages 1,700 hectares of agricultural land, and manufactures its products in Perugia (Italy), where it is building a new factory. The group, founded 40 years ago, is present in 26 countries, and has a workforce of 1,400 workers, 90 of whom are in Spain, the majority in Catalonia, where its headquarters are located.
Now, explained Mercati, Aboca is the ninth self-medication laboratory in Spain. The company specializes in respiratory and gastrointestinal products. Last year, its cough syrup, GrinTuss, was the leading product in sales in Spain. “With the pandemic, the use of the mask reduced the incidence of respiratory conditions such as cough, sore throat and nasal congestion, in which we are leaders, but thanks to our strong investments in R&D and the launch of new products in areas such as stomach and intestine we have had good results”.
Aboca allocated 9.5 million euros to R&D last year (more than a third of its operating profit or EBITDA, which was 38 million), and has a team of 74 people in research with 18 clinical studies underway. “We take natural substances from the world of tradition to the world of innovation, demonstrating their efficacy, safety and good risk/benefit ratio for health and the environment.”
Aboca, run by Massimo Mercati with his sister Valentina as vice president, has adopted the Sociedad Benefit model. “Because we are 100% family-owned, we can focus on long-term goals, and we don’t need to give up our vision and values ??for financial reasons.” Aboca, he explained, plans to continue as an independent firm “although we are open to working with large companies to reach license agreements for our products.”
