Assaí targets 250 in-store pharmacies in margin push
Brazilian cash-and-carry retailer Assaí has opened its first in-store pharmacy, launching a capital-light rollout of up to 250 locations designed to lift profitability without increasing store-opening debt.
Assaí Atacadista opened its proprietary Assaí Farma unit in São Paulo on July 16, marking the first time a Brazilian food retailer has placed a pharmacy on its sales floor since a 2026 law authorized the practice. The company plans 25 pilot locations in São Paulo state by the end of the year, with a medium-term pipeline exceeding 250 units across its 313-store footprint.
For investors, the attraction lies in the structural cost advantages of the model. By housing pharmacies within existing stores, Assaí avoids roughly 40% of the expenses associated with standalone drugstores. Rent, property taxes, and security costs are already absorbed by the supermarket overhead, insulating the pharmacy segment from the fixed costs that typically consume about 10% of sales for traditional operators.
While initial gross margins will lag larger chains like RD Saúde due to lower purchasing scale, pharmacy margins inherently outpace food retail. Analysts project that a mature footprint of 250 pharmacies could generate roughly R$1.5 billion in gross revenue and R$133 million in EBITDA. This yields an average monthly revenue of approximately R$622,000 per location.
The rollout leverages Assaí’s existing traffic of 40 million monthly customers. Internal research indicates 78% of shoppers intend to buy medications during their regular visits, directing the chain to stock recurrent-use treatments rather than emergency supplies. The new Assaí Farma locations carry weight-loss injection pens, with 93% of pharmacy SKUs representing entirely new product categories for the retailer.
The pharmacy strategy arrives as Assaí deliberately decelerates its core store expansion to reduce its net debt-to-EBITDA ratio. By extracting higher average customer tickets from its current real estate, the company can improve return on invested capital without heavy new construction. CEO Belmiro Gomes has framed the initiative as a response to structural changes in consumer markets.
