The CEO of Uriach at Matins Esade: ‘The last eight years have seen steady growth of around 15%’
‘Over the last eight years, Uriach has seen steady growth of around 15%. We have tripled our turnover and multiplied our EBITDA by five, which changes the landscape for us. Today, we are larger, stronger and have more possibilities to grow’, explained Oriol Segarra, CEO of Uriach and an Esade alumni (Lic&MBA 94), at the most recent session of Matins Esade.
Segarra discussed the company’s transformation over the last ten years from a pharmaceutical company focussed on the prescription business, accounting for 70% of sales in Spain, to one strategically oriented towards consumer healthcare products, which are not subject to public subsidies. Specifically, it is focussed on natural products with plant-based ingredients, vitamins, minerals, and other ‘non-chemical’ products.
‘Fifteen years ago, we had many medicinal products; today, with the focus on natural consumer healthcare, we are more consumer-oriented, which allows us to be faster and more agile and to internationalise. In addition to natural consumer health, which is the self-prescription part, we have also focussed on the more natural part (food supplements, medical devices, certain cosmetics, etc.), as there is a major global consumer trend towards more natural, less chemical products. This business approach has been successful because it responds to some of the dangers in the pharmaceutical sector related to the regulation of public subsidies for prescription drugs. We have built know-how and harnessed a global trend that has not yet been sufficiently exploited and in which the players are still fragmented’, Segarra said.
Leadership model
The Uriach CEO laid out the five levers of the company’s leadership, based on the Spanish word for leader: locate, inspire, develop, execute, and raise the bar. He explained the importance of defining a purpose with a strategic plan that makes sense, with objectives that reflect market trends, for instance, with regard to the countries the company wants to target or how it wants to position itself in the market.
Segarra also spoke about the key role of communication. ‘The more information people in the company have, the more ideas they can contribute. It is about having a story and being able to use it to connect with people; a rational link is not enough.’ He likewise underscored the importance of aligning the management team ‘from top to bottom’.
The CEO also discussed the need to develop talent. ‘There is a lot of untapped talent at companies. We need to shift from the talent war to talent development’, as well as to developing infrastructure.
As for execution, he explained, ‘Uriach has diversified its activity by territory.’ ‘We have bought three companies in Italy, one in Portugal and, recently, one in Germany, which is also present in Switzerland, since our focus is on leading Europe. We have also bought certain brands to round out our portfolio. International growth is one of the most complex goals, since, amongst other things, you have to locate partners’, he concluded.
Matins Esade is a forum for thinking about business organised by Esade Alumni at Esade, an opportunity for executives from leading companies to share their views about their industries and companies.
