The early days of Eurofins – Scaling up

Today, the Eurofins network of companies operates in 59 countries and is the global leader in Testing for Life. But how did Eurofins grow from one small laboratory in Nantes, France into an international network of laboratories across the world? Learn about our journey in the second part of a new series of articles on the early days of Eurofins.

Did you miss the first part of our new series of articles on the early days of Eurofins? Read about the origins of Eurofins here.

The mid-90s was the start of a new era for Eurofins. The word was officially out on SNIF-NMR?, Eurofins’ ground-breaking authenticity testing technology and demand for this service was increasing. The team based at the Eurofins laboratory in Nantes were no longer holding their breath to see how many samples would arrive each day.

Around this time, the Nantes laboratory underwent a few makeovers, with extensions, modernised equipment, and automated processes that could ramp up testing capacities. Samples were coming in thick and fast, and Eurofins’ testing portfolio was also expanding into new authenticity tests and other areas such as nutritional analysis.

By the mid-90s, Eurofins had grown consistently and carefully for almost a decade, and the Nantes laboratory was generating a few million euros in revenue each year. The Eurofins team set their sights on international expansion, and the markets to target included France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

As luck would have it, an unexpected opportunity to take the first step in penetrating the US market came along in 1997. Eurofins employees identified New Jersey-based Nutrition International as a potential partner because it performed chemical analysis of food, similar to Eurofins’ own work at the time. Nutrition International was a relatively small company with 40 employees, but it would give Eurofins the United States presence it was looking for.

However, Nutrition International had a sister company, Product Safety Labs (PSL), and the owner of both businesses was looking to sell the laboratories together before his retirement. PSL’s business was not limited to food testing; it predominantly served the pharmaceutical, chemical, and agrochemical industries, providing safety and efficacy assessments of compounds. Eurofins agreed to acquire both companies and, in doing so, gained a foothold in several new industries.

The acquisition of Nutrition International and PSL brought new knowledge and skillsets to Eurofins, and with that, more doors opened. Over the years that followed, Eurofins acquired companies in France, Germany, and the UK. Eurofins’ expansion echoed the old French proverb:

L’appétit vient en mangeant.

In English, it translates to ‘appetite comes with eating’. With each new market and country that Eurofins entered, employees spotted more and more opportunities to innovate and solve problems for customers.

This growth was synonymous with Gilles Martin’s vision for Eurofins. In the 90s, our founder and CEO wrote a business plan to build a network of laboratories, specialised in different types of testing, which could subcontract work among each other. This idea was rather unique at the time, with Gilles wanting Eurofins to become a one-stop-shop, satisfying all of a client’s testing needs so they wouldn’t have to turn elsewhere. But, to achieve this vision, Eurofins needed to generate capital that could fund increased M&A activity to expand the network of laboratories…

Read more in our new book, The Story of Eurofins.