Anca Vlad, founder of the Fildas-Catena Group, leader in pharmaceutical distribution and retail, was among the first entrepreneurs to launch her business in the early 90s, being able to develop strong and representative companies in a complex and competitive field.
First, she set up a marketing office, which was dedicated to providing consultancy services. The first customer would arrive after six months. “It happened to be a representative of a foreign company I worked for. After a while, when I felt that there were clear needs in the market, I decided to set up a company to distribute pharmaceutical products for both human and veterinary use, as well as cosmetics,” said Anca Vlad. That’s how Fildas came to be. It started with a turnover of $1.5 million in 1991; at the time, the company had seven employees. In 1993, Fildas Trading SRL was founded. All deliveries in the early years were made to Fildas on “trust”, with no guarantee instruments, with pay-as-you-sell and a relatively low commission. But the news that there was a serious private Romanian company in the field of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics reached many companies that were to gradually become suppliers.
In 2023, the turnover amounted to RON 6.9 billion, according to the latest available data, being the best performance since the establishment of this company. The study “100 Most Profitable Companies in Romania”, conducted by Forbes Romania based on CreditSky data, shows that Fildas Trading is the most profitable company owned by a woman in Romania. At national level, the company operates 16 warehouses, with a total area of 60,000 square meters, which are energy neutral, and a fleet of 400 commercial vehicles.
In 1999, the retail part was also created through the procurement of a company that owned a network of 30 pharmacies and a warehouse in Pitești. Subsequently, investing and reinvesting almost all the profits in development, it has grown to a network of hundreds of pharmacies across the country under the Catena brand. Catena currently has almost 1,000 units and almost 7,000 employees. According to the latest available information, Catena pharmacies achieved a total turnover of about RON 7.1 billion in 2023. Currently, Alexandru Vlad, the founder’s son and a graduate of Cambridge University and University College London, serves as the Group’s president.
Anca Vlad is vice-president of the Romanian Business Association and Family Business Network Romania organization. Since 2021, she is also a member of the Executive Committee of the European Family Businesses Federation, based in Brussels.
Anca Vlad is an active supporter of the Romanian cultural and social life. Her passion, since her college days, has been and remains the visual arts. Starting this year, the Fildas Art Foundation initiates a project of confluence of arts called Vila Catena, where the general public will be able to simultaneously admire and understand the work of the great masters of Romanian painting, in accordance with the searches of young artists. The founder of Catena appreciates and constantly supports the efforts of the teams of Salvați Copiii Romania, “Casa Speranței” Hospice, OvidiuRo, Light into Europe, Renaissance Foundation and other charitable organizations. The Fildas Art Foundation also supports and promotes Romanian film productions, particularly those by directors Cristian Mungiu, Cătălin Mitulescu, and Tudor Giurgiu.
Anca Vlad has been the undisputed leader in Forbes Romania’s ranking of the most powerful women in Romania for several years.
Source: Forbes.ro
