Private company

Etos

Logo: Etos BV, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

Retail company of the Netherlands

Etos B.V., trading as Etos, was founded in 1919 by Philips to create a grocery and drugstore where Philips employees could benefit from lower priced products than the average stores. "Etos" is an abbreviation for the Dutch words: Eendracht, Toewijding, Overleg and Samenwerking (Unity, Devotion, Consultation and Cooperation). Since July 1, 2021, the Sebastiaan de Jong has served as brand president.2 It was founded by Koninklijke Philips NV.1 It is headquartered in Zaandam.1 It is part of Ahold Delhaize.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

1918Founded1
  • Industrydrugstore1
  • HeadquartersZaandam1
  • Websitewww.etos.nl
  • Legal formprivate limited company1

See how the biggest companies compare on our leaderboards

Etos Utrecht 2010
Photo: Maurits90, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons5

Etos B.V., trading as Etos, was founded in 1919 by Philips to create a grocery and drugstore where Philips employees could benefit from lower priced products than the average stores. "Etos" is an abbreviation for the Dutch words: Eendracht, Toewijding, Overleg and Samenwerking (Unity, Devotion, Consultation and Cooperation). Since July 1, 2021, the Sebastiaan de Jong has served as brand president.2

Corporate structure

Etos is part of a group headed by Ahold Delhaize. 23 entities, 7 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Built from subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

Founded by Koninklijke Philips NV in 1918.1

Etos had a bakery and fuel pumps. In 1931 the stores went private as Etos.

In 1973 Etos was bought by Ahold which reformed the grocery stores to the Albert Heijn formula. The drug stores went on as Etos.

Etos has 546 stores in the Netherlands. 54% of the Etos stores operate as franchises.

In 2008 Etos was named best drug store of the Netherlands for the first time (the first 11 years this had been drug store "DA"). In 2009, 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2017 it managed to extend this title.

From Wikipedia’s article on Etos, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Products and brands

  • medication

Listed on Wikidata.1

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

Owners

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. 1918Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5