The Bigio family settled in Haiti in 1896  and has always been involved in commercial activities from the outset.

The first family operation – Founded by Isaac Jacques Bigio (1870 – 1942) – was the establishment of a cotton gin house to supply the garment factories back in Manchester, England.

With the addition of new members, the family quickly involved itself in both local and export trade of commodities such as campeachy wood, coffee, cacao and others.

Although the Bigio family is originally from Livorno, Italy, our Chairman’s father – Charles Shalom Bigio (1906 – 1968) – arrived to Haiti via Aleppo, Syria. Aleppo at the time was a very important commercial center for Jewish families trading commodities between the Far East and Europe.

What is today known as the GB Group was born in 1972 when our Chairman, Gilbert Bigio, took the decision to leave the historical commercial activities of the family to pursue his own visions and dreams.

Since then, through tireless effort and the unwavering
belief that the impossible is in fact possible,
the GB Group has evolved into what it is today.

Timeline

• In the 19th century 1896

  The Bigio family originally settled in Haiti in 1896 from Italy via the Middle East. The family was initially engaged in cotton production and trading.

• GB Group is born 1972

  Gilbert Bigio departed from the family’s traditional business and started what is known today as GB Group.

• Aciérie d’Haiti is founded 1974

  Aciérie d’Haiti was founded as the country’s first and only rolling mill and remains one of the most important industrial ventures in the country. It is today the largest distributor of steel in the country and one of the largest in the Caribbean. The company sits on a 20 hectare complex with 1 million square feet of covered warehouses.

• A small venture called HUHSA 1981

  establishment of a Joint Venture with UDI of Israel to build the first modern edible oil extraction plant in the Caribbean – Sodexol. It represented a USD $25 MM investment. As a distribution arm, a subsidiary was born: HUHSA.

• APS in NYC 1982

  Agro Products and Trading was established in New York, to be the procurement and trading sister company SODEXOL.

• A special kind of steel 1985

  Global Market Services was created in NYC as a specialized in Steel Trading house. Its goal was to supply ADH and to service the entire Caribbean and Central American region.

• Shell acquisition 2003

  establishment of DINASA to acquire Shell’s fuel operations in Haiti with a local investor. The acquisition included retail stations, a fuel terminal and an LPG distribution network.

• Haiti’s 1st GSM Network 2005

  creation of a communication company – Onefone – which partnered with Digicel to build Haiti’s first GSM network.

• Chevron acquisition (Haiti) 2009

  acquisition of Chevron’s operations in Haiti. With financing from the IIC, the Group added service stations and an exclusive supply to airports and merged their new acquisition to DINASA‘s existing network.

• The Haiti earthquake 2010

  the earthquake had a devastating impact on the country and its population. GB Group suffered significant losses in both personnel and property and has since invested over USD $40 MM in plant and buildings to restore its operational capacity.

• Chevron acquisition in 3 more countries 2012

  GB Group acquired the downstream assets of Chevron Texaco in Dominican Republic, Jamaica and St. Maarten. The business consists of supply and distribution to retail, LPG, commercial and industrial and aviation segments in those markets.

   • As part of the acquisition, the company formed GB Energy. On a combined basis, the network now includes over 350 retail stations, operates 3 terminals, serves 13 international airports – serving over 30 airlines and 200 commercial & industrial accounts becoming one of the the largest petroleum distributors in the Caribbean.

   • Since the acquisition, the Group formed an energy trading company, GBET, to supply the Group’s operational companies and external customers across the region.

• Haiti’s most comprehensive infrastructure project 2013

  establishment Lafito Global, an ambitious project which includes a port, a free zone, an industrial park, a residential area and a sports club to be built on 300 hectares of land acquired in 2010.

• Looking ahead 2014

  The Group continues to be acquisitive, leveraging its core industry expertise and geographic presence.