Colruyt Group's online pharmacy business, Newpharma, has opened a distribution centre in Wandre, Belgium.
The mayor of Liège, Willy Demeyer, and CEO of Colruyt Group, Jef Colruyt, inaugurated the facility, which commenced operations last autumn.
According to the group, the facility is equipped to face the challenges of the future, especially in terms of energy performance and employee well-being, and create around 40 extra jobs.
Distribution Centre
The new distribution centre will support national and international growth of Newpharma, which is becoming a key player in Colruyt Group's health pillar since its integration in June of last year.
With a surface area of 20,000 square metres and the provision to expand to 50,000 square metres over time, the new distribution centre is located in Liège's ‘Port Autonome’, close to Newpharma's headquarters.
"This allows us to bring our activities, previously spread over three sites, together on one site and thus improve the operational efficiency of our operations," explained Gilles Jourquin, general manager of Newpharma.
The distribution centre receives, stores and ships approximately 47,000 items in the online pharmacy's range.
Newpharma
Newpharma operates in 12 countries and was awarded the ‘Best E-commerce 2023 in the parapharmaceutical sector' in France.
Jourquin added, "After two years of strong growth, we are seeing a clear slowdown in e-commerce today and we certainly are noticing changes in consumer behaviour, but our health and wellness business seems relatively essential and continues to grow.
"Newpharma currently has about 4,670,000 unique customers, of which 1,400,000 are in Belgium. We are the market leader in France, and Switzerland offers us very good prospects. This shows more than ever that preventive health is on the rise, and that Newpharma offers a tailor-made solution in this field; in terms of accessibility, a wide choice of products, low prices, and customised digital advice."
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest supply chain news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
