The largest medicine warehouse in the Netherlands will soon be in controversial Lutkemeer
Brocacef is a permanent establishment in the Netherlands and provides medicines and healthcare resources to general practitioners, hospitals, vets and healthcare institutions. The company already packs medicines and healthcare supplies in the warehouses for the user. This concerns 700,000 articles per day.
In addition, Brocacef is the owner of pharmacy chain Benu, Mediq acquired in 2014, to which 349 independent pharmacists are affiliated. Earlier this year, Brocacef, which has a head office in Maarssen, took over the pharmacy group Parnassia with 160 branches. The company therefore accounts for a quarter of all pharmacies in our country.
Brocacef already has a warehouse in Amsterdam, in Westpoort, but is out of his dress suit there. “We need a new location, to be able to double our capacity and to organize logistics in a leaner way,” says Kim Assink of Brocacef. “We anticipate growth of our company, we cannot do that in the existing branches. Whether this has to do with the demand for care, including medicines and care products, she does not dare to say.
medicine warehouse
In mid-2023, the company will move to the new location in Amsterdam Nieuw-West, the construction of which has yet to start. 250 people will work in the medicine warehouse, from which a large part of the Netherlands will be served. Brocacef also has a branch in Eindhoven, with 8,500 square meters a lot smaller, which is the rest of the country. In addition, there are a number of branches in the rest of the country.
After the move, the company will also transport medicines for private individuals in greater Amsterdam from the new distribution center using electric vans. “We have thirty of our own Benu pharmacies in the city. Pharmacy vans drive around each location to deliver medicines to their homes. That overlaps. We will schedule that specific from the new location, with the exception of rush orders.”
more about own equipment to each attempt. “In this way we can remove 200,000 transport kilometers from the city every year, which is a saving of 30,000 kilos of CO2. We are going to deliver emission-free in the city.”
Lutkemeer
The choice for Business Park Osdorp owned by SADC (a real estate association of Schiphol, the municipalities of Amsterdam and Haarlemmermeer, and the province of Noord-Holland) is a spicy one. Brocacef will of course settle in a part on Maroastraat, where all distribution centers of, among others, the blood bank Sanquin are located, but right next to the still green part where the expansion of the business park is planned.
In the past year, there was a lot of talk about the planned arrival of what turned out to be Albert Heijn’s ultimate center. Activists closed down the AH branches, among others. The supermarket company declined the arrival.
The distribution center, which was recently sold by developer Heembouw to real estate investor GLP, will be ‘as green as possible’, according to Assink. “1650 solar panels on our roof, the parking garage will have a vegetated outer facade and will be integrated into the landscape of the Lutkemeerpolder.”
For Brocacef, a location close to both city and roads is crucial for the distribution of medicines. “We want to be close to the built-up area with good access options so that logistics are not jeopardized,” says Assink. “We supply a large part of the Netherlands, medicines, self-care articles and medical devices to hospitals, nursing homes and pharmacies, but also to homes.”
Corona vaccines
This also includes corona self-tests, medical masks and other pandemic items, but no vaccines. Earlier this year, CEO Peter de Jong criticized the cabinet in the pharmaceutical press, which keeps the distribution of vaccines in its own hands and that of the RIVM. This causes delays, as is currently the case with the booster shot.
According to De Jong, if the distribution were in the hands of specialized companies such as Brocacef, who visit 4,000 general practitioners, hospitals and GGDs every day, the whole of the Netherlands could be pricked in a month.
Brocacef, where 5,500 people account for 2.2 billion euros in turnover, is owned by two German existing industry peers Phoenix. The company originated, among other things, from the Amsterdamsche Chininefabriek (ACF), which was founded in 1882 on De Wittenkade and which merged in 1967 as Amsterdam Chemie Farmacie into what is now Brocacef.