This article is a part of Poland Unpacked. Weekly intelligence for decision-makers
A seasoned financier has set up a fund and acquired a clean-label dietary supplements manufacturer. For months, he has been developing it with a new partner who is helping to double production without the so-called “dirty dozen” additives. In a multi-billion market crowded with questionable-quality players, the move stands out. “We did not have to worry about risking the reputation we have built over nearly four decades,” says Michał Kędzia, partner at Enterprise Investors.
Poland’s market for dietary supplements and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines is exceptionally competitive. Haleon, the global leader in this field, trails several domestic manufacturers in Poland, including Aflofarm.
Poles spend nearly PLN 6bn (approx. EUR 1.4bn) on supplements in pharmacies alone, according to PEX data. The market’s scale and steady growth continue to attract new entrants, most of which rely on heavy marketing, often featuring celebrity endorsements.
Formeds, founded in 2012, has taken a different path. From the outset, it has focused on clean-label formulations and specialist distribution channels. In 2025, private-equity fund Enterprise Investors acquired a 77% stake. Together, they are accelerating expansion through a new investment.
“We are fully independent in terms of production and warehousing. By mid-year, we will complete a multi-million-zloty investment that will more than double our production capacity – to around 25 million capsules per month. At the same time, we are pursuing other projects, with planned CAPEX in the tens of millions of zlotys,” says Waldemar Pilch, CEO and co-owner of Formeds.
From finance to supplements
Waldemar Pilch has been immersed in the supplements industry since 2000. With a family of pharmacists – his wife and sister – he draws on deep expertise: his wife ran a New York pharmacy for years, introducing some of the city’s first clean-label supplements.
He built his career in the financial sector overseas, holding senior management roles at KPMG, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Standard Chartered Bank. When he returned to Poland in 2016, he stepped into the role of an entrepreneur.
“For six years, I ran ES-System, a family-founded company producing and selling architectural lighting, scaling it to around PLN 250m (approx. EUR 58m) in annual revenue. I decided to leverage my investment and entrepreneurial experience in the supplements sector, which is close to me. As an amateur athlete, I realised that Formeds was the only Polish manufacturer offering clean-label supplements. The choice was obvious,” explains Waldemar Pilch.
At the time, Formeds was a family business. Pilch acquired it in December 2022 through a search fund – a vehicle set up by a manager to acquire a small or medium-sized company for long-term development, financed by a group of investors.
Pilch was supported by Novastone Capital Advisors. Today, the firm focuses on companies valued at EUR 10m–50m (approx. PLN 40m–200m), with EBITDA in the range of EUR 2m – 7.5m.
“At the time we began working together, Novastone was more of an accelerator than a fund, so its criteria were different from today. I set up a search fund with as low an entry threshold as possible, at the level of the low tens of millions of euros,” he says.
Expert's perspective
Where to look for innovation in supplements
On the one hand, we see a strong influence of trends and the popularity of specific ingredients on social media. On the other, a growing group of consumers is beginning to look beyond the ingredient list itself, paying attention to who makes the product and under what conditions it is produced. Transparency and manufacturer credibility are becoming central to informed supplementation. For consumers, knowing who is responsible for developing and producing a supplement should be just as important as the list of ingredients.
For companies rooted in the pharmaceutical sector, manufacturing standards, raw-material quality control, ingredient standardization and R&D capabilities are critical. Operating under such a quality regime entails a fundamentally different approach to product design and manufacturing – and, consequently, a different cost structure from that of businesses built purely on marketing models.
Innovation in this category hinges on production technologies, bioavailability of substances, raw-material quality, standardization of plant extracts and transparency of formulations. Developing top-tier supplements requires a combination of scientific expertise, manufacturing technology, quality control and compliance with a fast-evolving regulatory environment.
Proper standardization of extracts – defining the amount of active substance in the final product – also plays a key role, as do raw-material purity (including heavy metals and contaminants) and sourcing from suppliers that meet the highest quality standards.
These are precisely the areas where the development of the health-support products market will be concentrated in the coming years.
An ideal scenario for Enterprise Investors
Within three years of the ownership change, Formeds has roughly tripled its revenues and improved profitability. In 2024, sales rose year on year from PLN 32m to PLN 42.8m (approx. EUR 7.4m to EUR 9.9m), operating profit increased from PLN 7.9m to PLN 10.8m (approx. EUR 1.8m to EUR 2.5m), and net profit climbed from PLN 4.2m to PLN 6.9m (approx. EUR 1.0m to EUR 1.6m).
“I had not planned a transaction so soon. However, Enterprise Investors’ offer was highly attractive to the investors in my fund, and it opened up entirely new growth opportunities for the company. I remain committed for the long term,” says Waldemar Pilch.
“Waldemar can certainly be described as the founder of Formeds in its current form. He remains not only CEO but also a significant shareholder. For us, this is the ideal scenario – nothing drives success like that. Whenever we have the option to partner with a founder, we prefer it to a 100% buyout and hiring a new management team,” adds Michał Kędzia, partner at Enterprise Investors.
He acknowledges that Formeds is not yet a large business. The fund is therefore keeping room to inject additional capital, allocating EUR 20m–75m per project. If a market opportunity arises that cannot be financed with available debt, it will provide as much equity as needed.
Interactive chart Interactive chart Clean label, zero celebrities
From the outset, Formeds has focused on innovation, securing its first grant shortly after launch. The company pioneered large-scale production in Poland of clean-label dietary supplements – free from any unnecessary additives. Its first product was 100% vitamin C. It has steadily expanded its portfolio, drawing on in-house expertise and collaborating, among others, with scientists from the University of Warsaw.
Founded in 1990, Enterprise Investors has so far backed more than 160 companies, including over a dozen in the broadly defined healthcare sector, as well as in pharmaceuticals.
The fund has been analyzing the supplements market for several years and has approached transactions in the segment multiple times. Deals did not materialize for various reasons, one of them being insufficient credibility on the part of target companies.
“For us, investing in a business that markets itself with claims like ‘take our supplement and you’ll lose 15kg, look 10 years younger and grow 5cm taller’ is simply out of the question. Some consumers believe such claims only because they are repeated by a celebrity. Unlike many manufacturers, Formeds delivers exactly what it promises. We did not have to worry about risking the reputation we have built over nearly four decades. Moreover, sales of specialist supplements aimed at informed consumers are growing even faster than the mass market,” says Michał Kędzia.
Until around 2022, Formeds relied exclusively on B2B sales – to pharmacists, doctors and dieticians. Its products were available through specialist stores, herbal shops and pharmacies. Marketing spend was effectively zero, as product quality is what determines success in these channels.
Interactive chart Interactive chart A competitive market, an open niche
Waldemar Pilch underscores the intensity of competition in Poland’s supplements market – new companies are springing up like mushrooms. Most, however, lack any real specialization or their own manufacturing facilities, and therefore have no control over process quality. In practice, they rely on marketing and outsourced production.
“Competition in our niche is very limited. We offer supplements and minerals in high doses and highly bioavailable forms, based on credible scientific research. Only a handful of companies in Poland do this properly. If a consumer has to wonder what a given ingredient on the label is doing in the final product, then it is definitely not our product,” says the CEO of Formeds.
The company’s formulations avoid all unnecessary additives, such as magnesium stearate. No studies have demonstrated harmful effects on health, but nor have any confirmed beneficial properties for the body.
“These and similar additives are essentially ‘machine lubricants’. We call them the ‘dirty dozen’. They include substances such as colorings, talc, preservatives, magnesium stearate, silicon dioxide, artificial flavors, microcrystalline cellulose, hydrogenated oils, starch, as well as rice extract and husks. They are used solely to enable efficient mass production. In our plant, we cannot automate certain processes precisely because we need to preserve a clean formulation,” explains Waldemar Pilch.
Expert's perspective
In e-commerce, supplements outpace medicines
In the past year, Poles purchased 910 million units of OTC products in pharmacies, 1.7% fewer than a year earlier. Supplements alone accounted for just under 205 million units, worth PLN 5.8bn (approx. EUR 1.35bn). OTC medicines represented just under 500 million units, with a value of nearly PLN 12.7bn (approx. EUR 2.95bn). The remainder of the non-prescription category consisted of cosmetics and medical devices.
Growth in supplements has been uneven. Unit sales rose by 3.7% in 2024 and by just 0.9% in 2025. By comparison, the OTC segment recorded declines of 1.2% and 3%, respectively. In value terms, however, the supplements market performed more strongly, expanding by 9% in 2024 and 5.4% in 2025. OTC medicines, by contrast, saw their value fall – first by 8.6%, then by 3.9%.
In online pharmacies – unlike brick-and-mortar outlets – the supplements segment is larger than OTC. In 2025, supplements accounted for 27 million units (+9%), worth nearly PLN 893m (approx. EUR 207m), while OTC medicines reached 22 million units with a value of almost PLN 486m (approx. EUR 113m). Notably, pharmacy e-commerce is growing faster than the traditional retail channel. As for non-pharmacy supplement sales, data from a few years ago pointed to a market of around PLN 500m (approx. EUR 116m), with growth likely similar to that seen in pharmacy channels.
The future of the supplements market will depend not only on the strength of promotion – which builds awareness of both brands and product uses. Increasingly important is the trend toward prevention, evident not only as a consumer preference but also supported by official health programs at the government, parliamentary and local levels, as well as by private and public healthcare providers.
Health is – and will remain – at a premium, while modern sales channels have room to grow, even if not all target groups offer the same potential.
E-commerce gains importance
Formeds is developing several sales channels in parallel. It still sees room for growth in the specialist segment – pharmacies, herbal shops and the like. For now, it is focusing on independent outlets, though it does not rule out entering large pharmacy chains and selected FMCG networks (fast-moving consumer goods such as food, cosmetics and household products).
Its priority, however, is the D2C channel – direct online sales of its own brands to consumers – which provides a direct relationship with customers.
“This matters to us because we are building a community around trust in our quality – not on celebrity-driven marketing campaigns. Since 2023, we have operated our own online store. A significant share of our sales comes from a subscription model, with several tens of thousands of subscriptions. This model is not yet very popular in our category in Poland, but the benefits are substantial: lower prices, no need to remember to reorder, and additional perks for members of our club,” says Waldemar Pilch.
Brick-and-mortar retail accounts for around 30% of the company’s revenue, while e-commerce generates the remaining 70% - a share that may increase further.
“We plan to expand into additional online pharmacies – we are already present, for example, on Gemini. This year, we will also launch direct sales on Allegro. Until now, we have operated on marketplace platforms – including Amazon – through partners. We do not intend to end those partnerships,” the entrepreneur adds.
Interactive chart The rise of creatine and digestive health support
The company plans to expand its portfolio by several dozen new products in the coming years, seeing a range of just over 200 as optimal. New launches are not developed in a matter of months but close to a year – so if something works, it tends to stay for years.
“Trends in Poland mirror global ones. Customers most often reach for the basics of supplementation: magnesium, Omega-3 fatty acids and B vitamins. We follow scientific evidence. Recently, creatine has gained in importance – introduced by us in 2025 in its purest form, it quickly became popular. Research shows that supplementation can increase levels of creatine and phosphocreatine in the brain, supporting cellular energy processes in neurons. This may improve concentration, cognitive performance and resilience to fatigue, particularly in demanding situations such as prolonged effort or sleep deprivation,” says Waldemar Pilch.
He points to digestive health as by far the most popular area of supplementation, followed by skin and hair care, and sleep quality. Topics such as libido, menopause and ageing – still something of a taboo in Poland – are also gaining traction.
Ambitious plan for Poland
The expanded facility is expected to meet the company’s needs for the next five to seven years, despite rapid growth – the average annual sales increase in recent years has been around 50%.
“In 2025, we grew revenues by 52% to PLN 65m (approx. EUR 15m) and we do not intend to slow down. Our goal is for over a million Poles to choose our products consciously. We have international sales potential, but for now we are focusing on the domestic market. It is enormous, and our share is still small. We prefer to capture 10% of one market rather than a few percent across several. The time for foreign expansion may come at the next stage of development,” says the CEO of Formeds.
“If our company can grow effectively through acquisitions, we are happy to support that. It is part of our know-how – a good example being the Croatian grocery chain Studenac. But we do not like to base strategy solely on M&A. It’s good when opportunities arise, but a company must always have room for dynamic organic growth. Formeds clearly has that. We are watching potential deals, but the list of companies with an ultra-conservative approach to clean labeling – like ours – is unfortunately very short,” adds Michał Kędzia.
Good to know
Regulations exist, but are limited
Waldemar Pilch, CEO and co-owner of Formeds, emphasizes that it is a myth that Poland’s dietary supplements market is unregulated. Regulations do exist, but they are fairly limited. For example, neither EU legislation nor local rules require testing of individual supplements or the raw materials used to make them – certification of the raw-material manufacturer is sufficient.
“We test not only every product but also the raw materials themselves – we commission over 2,500 tests annually. Moreover, there is no obligation to verify the content of active ingredients in the finished product. We, however, publish these results on our website to show that we deliver exactly what we claim. There is no cutting corners with us,” says Waldemar Pilch.
Key Takeaways
- Production independence and ambitious plans. In 2024, Formeds grew revenues from PLN 32m to PLN 42.8m (approx. EUR 7.4m to EUR 9.9m), operating profit from PLN 7.9m to PLN 10.8m (approx. EUR 1.8m to EUR 2.5m) and net profit from PLN 4.2m to PLN 6.9m (approx. EUR 1.0m to EUR 1.6m). Last year, sales rose 52% to PLN 65m (approx. EUR 15m). The company does not intend to slow down – its goal is to reach over one million Poles. Expansion of its own manufacturing plant, scheduled for completion this year, will help achieve this, doubling production capacity to around 25 million capsules per month. In the coming years, Formeds will focus on domestic growth. Acquisitions are not ruled out, and the fund can support them, though the pool of potentially attractive companies remains limited.
- From finance to entrepreneurship and fund partnership. Waldemar Pilch built extensive experience in the financial sector, holding senior management positions in the U.S., including at Morgan Stanley and Citigroup. After returning to Poland in 2016, he took over ES-System. Over time, he decided to leverage his investment and entrepreneurial expertise in the supplements sector, which is close to him. Using a search fund model, he acquired the clean-label supplement manufacturer Formeds in December 2022. Almost three years later, private-equity fund Enterprise Investors took a majority stake.
- Clean formulations win over Enterprise Investors. Enterprise Investors has been analyzing Poland’s multi-billion-zloty dietary supplements market for several years. The fund had considered multiple transactions, but none materialized, partly due to insufficient credibility of the target companies. Formeds was the first to earn the fund’s full trust. From the start, it has focused on clean formulations, avoiding unnecessary additives - what the company calls the “dirty dozen.” These include colorings, preservatives and magnesium stearate, used solely to enable efficient mass production as “machine lubricants.