The owner of Nivea and Hansaplast expands the Argentona plant

The pharmaceutical sector continues to concentrate a good part of foreign investments in Catalonia. The German multinational Beiersdorf has just announced an investment of nine million euros aimed at expanding the production capacity of its factory in Argentona (Barcelona), which it will transform into an industry 4.0.

The company that owns Nivea and Eucerin manufactures dressings at this Catalan plant under the brands Hansaplast, Elastoplast, and Curitas. In fact, Argentona has become the main production center for dressings for the Beiersdorf group globally and currently concentrates more than 50% of the total volume of products in the group's health and wound care area. From Argentona, Beiersdorf supplies more than 50 countries and now wants to prepare for the future a plant that is historic, as it has accumulated 68 years of industrial activity. Its trajectory has gone almost in parallel with the Hansaplast brand, which celebrates its centenary this year.

The listed multinational based in Hamburg has announced an investment of nine million euros in the Argentona plant after it has increased its production volume by 45% since 2017. Thus, in the last four years, the factory has gone from producing 69 million boxes of dressings per year to 100 million boxes. This increase has resulted in a 20% increase in staff, as it has gone from 141 employees to the current 170.

The expansion project will be ready in 2023 and will involve the construction of a new building of 1,700 square meters that will allow "to totally reorganize the manufacturing and storage rooms, optimize the flow of people and materials, and increase safety, quality, and efficiency," highlights the company. The budget also includes the incorporation of industry 4.0 technologies and the digitalization of all processes that are currently still manual, making it a paperless factory. The sustainability of the facilities will also be improved, and photovoltaic panels will be installed.

This Wednesday, the groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of the works was held, with the presence of representatives of the multinational, the Secretary of Labor of the Generalitat, Enric Vinaixa, and the mayor of Argentona, Gina Sabadell.

In Spain, Beiersdorf owns another factory in Tres Cantos (Madrid) dedicated to the production of Nivea. This center has also been expanded and will be inaugurated on July 5. In addition to Nivea, Eucerin, and Hansaplast, the consumer goods and cosmetics group owns well-known brands such as Liposan, Tesa, and La Prairie, and in 2021, it achieved a turnover of 7.6 billion euros. Although the company is listed on the stock exchange, with a value of more than 24 billion, 51% of the capital is held by the Herz family, who control the multinational through the Maxingvest holding, also owner of the coffee group Tchibo, the origin of the family's fortune. One of the branches of the Herz family owns Puma.