What is a Zoosanitary Buying Group and How Does It Work

What a buying group is

A buying group — also known as a purchasing group or buying cooperative — is a structure that aggregates the purchasing volume of several independent businesses to negotiate better conditions from suppliers on behalf of all of them. The result is that each individual business accesses conditions that are only available to much larger buyers.

The principle is simple: one establishment buying €500,000 per year in zoosanitary products has very limited negotiating leverage. A network that aggregates the volume of 1,000 similar establishments has €150M on the table — which changes the conversation entirely.

How the Nexo model works — from both sides

The Nexo model is built around two participant groups whose interests are perfectly aligned:

For Spanish establishments (ECDs): they pay a fixed monthly access fee (€75/month) to join the network and access the catalogue of certified distributors. When they order through Nexo, they pay the distributor directly at the negotiated group price — significantly lower than what they'd get buying independently. Nexo handles regulatory documentation and incident management.

For distributors: they pay an annual certification fee based on catalogue size and a commission on orders placed through the platform. In exchange, they get access to the entire network of participating establishments without needing to build a local commercial team, navigate Spanish regulatory compliance themselves, or manage individual relationships with 1,000+ buyers.

How this compares to traditional distribution

In traditional distribution, a large wholesale distributor buys from manufacturers at volume-discounted prices, warehouses the product and sells to end buyers (ECDs, vets) at a margin. That margin reflects the distributor's costs — warehouse, logistics, sales team — plus profit.

In the buying group model, there's no margin capture on the product. The group negotiates the best available price and passes it directly to the participant. The savings generated are real and measurable, not a reconfiguration of who captures the margin.

Why this model is growing in the zoosanitary sector

Buying groups have been a feature of the pharmacy sector in Spain for decades — cooperatives like Cofares and Cecofar were built on exactly this model. The zoosanitary sector is following the same logic, driven by the same pressure: dominant wholesale distributors with cost advantages that independent establishments can't match individually.

The timing is particularly relevant now. Spanish ECDs in the medium-size segment are actively looking for ways to pool their purchasing power, and European distributors with competitive prices are looking for efficient entry points to the Spanish market. Nexo is designed to be exactly that connection point.