Our
History

Founded by Pierre Balladur in Marseille, the family business became one of the city’s main forwarding agents in the 1950s, focusing on the import of cacao and coffee. In 1987, Hervé Balladur continued the family tradition and took the business to the next level by creating HBI (which then stands for Hervé Balladur International), a pioneering ocean freight forwarder in Marseille specialising in chemicals.

A new
Era.

The forwarding savoir-faire was passed down to the third generation in 2006 as Clément Balladur joined the company after many years in Canada, United States and Italy. He currently serves as the HBI Group CEO. Under his leadership, with the dedication of group employees, HBI has been progressively growing, through the establishment of a network that is uniquely ours, the company has further increased its influence in France and abroad. Over the years, HBI has also expanded significantly into global solutions, offering new products such as air freight, chartering, consolidation, booking management, and PO management. More equipped and visionary than ever, we aim to always remain ahead of the curve in this ever-changing world of shipping.

HBI
Today.

HBI’s markets today are truly global. Since 2019, the company has taken its presence and operations internationally. In the past two years, we have subsequently expanded outside of France to the United States, Türkiye, Hong Kong, Greater China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Senegal, Ivory Coast, UAE and Europe. Over the course of five decades, this family business from Marseille grew from a total of 30 to over 300 staff worldwide. The HBI brand « Hervé Balladur International – Maison de Transit » is now replaced by HBI, a unique worldwide brand. This is not only a three-word motto that people know us from but also an everyday practice of core values for our Group CEO, Group COO, Group CFO, and every single member of the Group.
   •  History
   •  Benevolence
   •  Innovation

HBI
Tomorow.

Innovation is always the key, it reflects HBI’s determination to and enthusiasm for a new horizon of solution. We aim to become a truly global company specializing in supply chain solutions for from small and mid-sized companies to international corporations. We will soon be offering an end-to-end platform with a wide variety of products in order to help our customers with their industry growth and development. It is commonly acknowledged that the freight forwarding business has been highly challenged by the rapidly changing world. With a vision, pioneering IT infrastructure/products, and enthusiastic staff, HBI is dedicated to continuously reinventing itself to be the provider of choice for our customers and their business ecosystem. Our goal is to remain a group focused on benevolence, quality and innovation, leaded by our commercial instinct.
The adventure is ahead of us!

Clément BALLADUR, CEO