The Hillebrand Group of today has come a long way since Johann Friedrich Hillebrand first established a freight commission business in 1844, connecting the growing industry of Mainz, Germany, with the overseas ports of Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Since then, five generations of one family have put their heart and soul into this business to make it happen.
1844 to 1918
It was in the summer heat of 1st July 1844 that Johann Friedrich Hillebrand, aged 25, established his freight commission business in Mainz providing services in loading and unloading as well as customs clearance. He bought river-barges to follow the tradition of his father and grandfather who were sailing the Rhine River to connect Mainz with Amsterdam and Rotterdam. In the mid-nineteenth century, the wine trade started booming in Mainz and Johann Friedrich began to expand the services by land and rail reaching out to Eastern Europe. Then, his sons Dionis and Louis entered the business in 1875 and extended the business to America, becoming representatives of the Hamburg America Line. In 1890, Johann Friedrich died, but the business flourished under the leadership of his son Dionis. In 1892, Dionis sailed to the US to strengthen business relationships in the New World, taking his sons Friedrich and Karl as partners. After the death of Dionis in 1914 and Friedrich during the First World War, Karl became the sole partner of the Company.
1918 to 1945
In January of 1918 there were just ten employees, but the efforts of Karl saw the staff increase to 70 commercial employees plus 50 dock workers, warehouse staff, and truck drivers by the autumn of 1919. The following year, Karl transformed JF Hillebrand into a Limited Company and took on Phillip Schmitt who ran the Company for the absent owners during the war. Like his father before him, Karl went to America to rebuild business relationships with the New World. In 1924, 7,000 tons of goods were shipped overseas, increasing to an impressive 210,000 tons in 1939.
1945 to 1972
When Karl’s son Jan returned from a Prisoner of War Camp in 1946, he found his home town and father’s Company completely bombed out. The warehouses, offices and old family estate had been destroyed and the business had been consolidated in a 50 square metre apartment. Everything had to be built from scratch. Karl and Jan started with the warehousing and customs business, and when Karl retired in 1953, Jan took over the management and set to expanding the river-barge and overseas business again. The advent of the container provided further opportunities, and Jan and his business partner Paul Ebert, who joined the Company in 1952, saw the container as the ideal tool for shipping wines: the path to the New World was secure.
1972 to 2002
The US, Canadian, and UK markets were developed and JF Hillebrand quickly became market leader for German wine exports to those countries. Customer satisfaction was so great that they demanded the same services out of other European countries. In 1974 JF Hillebrand France was founded in Beaune in a small office behind the station. It rapidly expanded, and was in 1976 followed by a new office - JF Hillebrand Bordeaux was opened. By 1979, the Company had offices in Germany, France, USA, Italy, and Scotland and by the mid 1980s the European network had been finalised, and expansion into other markets began in earnest. Under the leadership of Gérard Desbois, our current Chief Executive Officer, France developed to be the market leader in the French wine exports. By the 1990s, the network in Asia and New World Wine countries was firmly in place and we launched our fourth party logistics services. 1997 saw the formation of a strategic partnership in the UK with our major competitor at the time, Ferry Freighting Group (FFG), creating FFG Hillebrand. Such has been the success of this joint venture that, in 2002, we agreed to bring the operation fully within the JF Hillebrand Group, significantly strengthening JF Hillebrand’s position in the key UK import market.
Today
Today JF Hillebrand is the world's leading specialist logistics provider to the wine and spirit trade, with a global network of both wholly owned offices and agents present in every major wine and spirit market. Our company continues to grow and strive with the same commitment and enthusiasm as we had back in 1844. Whilst we are proud to look back at our past, we also raise a glass to the future.