Leading pharmacy chain in Brazil’s Midwest expands with art and technology

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Created by muralist Wes Gama and inaugurated today in downtown Goiânia, a 1,206 m² panel marks the 40th anniversary of Farmácia Artesanal, leader in drugs and compounded products in the Midwest and Belo Horizonte.

The company has over 60 branches, spread over 6 Brazilian states.

The group was founded in 1981 with one store in downtown Goiânia, the state capital of Goiás, and is rapidly expanding, with plans to reach 200 franchised stores by 2025.

Despite the pandemic, it expects to close 2021 with a 20% growth in revenues compared to last year. The company grew 15.5% in 2020. Today there are over 1,000 associated stores throughout Brazil.

The network of compounding pharmacies has stores in the states of Goiás, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, and Pará. Its first franchise will be opened in January 2022 in Campinas, in São Paulo’s interior. When choosing franchisees, the company takes into consideration not only their business profile, but also an affinity with the company’s purposes.

“We assess and study the profile of each partner thoroughly to understand their affinity and engagement with our causes,” says Evandro Tokarski, Grupo Artesanal’s CEO. In 1991, when the acronym ESG still meant nothing, the group was committed to sustainability and initiated a project aimed at the environmental preservation of the Araguaia River.

It also collects expired medicines in all its units and sends them for appropriate disposal, with incineration at 3,000°C. It also invests in diversity, inclusion, and gender equity.

Mural

It was precisely these purposes that inspired artist Wes Gama to create the mural that now covers the facade of Artesanal’s headquarters in Goiânia. The self-taught artist began his trajectory in the streets in 2000 through graffiti, using saturated colors, strokes and striking lines, portraying a fusion between human and nature.

The panel A Matriarca (The Matriarch) features a black woman kneading herbs with a mortar and pestle, traditional instruments that refer to the ancestry of pharmacy. The woman is surrounded by plants and animals from the cerrado (savannah region). The mural is the largest ever painted by the artist and revitalizes almost the entire historic block, where the pharmacy is located.

“The Matriarca is a gift to Goiânia, where our business was built 40 years ago,” Tokarski said.

Innovation

The group’s growth is also owed to the investment in technology and innovation. “Each human being is unique, with its own genetic makeup. This has an important meaning for our business,” Tokarski said.

The group, which closed 2020 with revenues of R$82 (US$15.5) million, has been increasing its investment in technology each year. The goal is to further expand its capacity to produce special and individualized formulations for patients to increase treatment adherence.

Studies show that only between 25% and 30% of people follow prescribed treatments. “Our goal is to support the medical community and patients by understanding their individual difficulties and challenges.”