Who are we ?

In 1927 Emile and Jean Gravis had the idea of creating a company in Valenciennes offering dispensing pharmacies and pharmaceutical laboratories customised bottles with engraved writing or initials moulded into the glass to enable differentiation.

Consequently, each laboratory had its own moulds. These glass bottles were manufactured by small glassworks in the Bresle valley.

The company also had its own moulds in order to sell bottles as standard products to its customers.

The Gravis brothers were the first to patent a new form of cap featuring a caduceus and with an interrupted inner thread to prevent syrup sugar crystallisation.

Jean Gravis set up a new establishment in Angers and offered pharmacists a new distribution network, with many different types of packaging intended for dispensary preparations. In those days, the dispensaries prepared most drugs, creams, syrups and remedies of all kinds themselves, and identified them by sticking labels onto standard bottles.

From 1965, with the arrival of two of Jean’s sons, Henri and Philippe, the company steadily developed, and by 1975 was among the leading distributors in France. To replace the labels on bottles, they suggested printing them using a silk-screen process, in small quantities, with the names of the pharmacist and product.

The Angers site had become too small and operations were transferred to Trélazé.

The Exports department was set up in order to add an international dimension to the company.

New legislation, prohibiting pharmacists from manufacturing their own products, threatened the bottle retail market. Expansion efforts therefore focused on pharmaceutical laboratories and on exports to Europe, Africa and Oceania.

The company opened a new platform in the Lyons region (Neuville-sur-Saône) run by François Gravis, Philippe’s son.

The company acquired the Société Parisienne de Verrerie glassworks; located in Villejuif, specialists in supplying control laboratories and perfumers. It was soon relocated to Orly, in modern premises with a significant amount of storage space.

Since 2010, François Gravis has been the general manager of the group, which now has 4 sites. While our customers are mainly French, our customer base has evolved considerably.
The exports office has won new markets in Asia and North and South America. Dispensaries now account for only a very small part of our activity, which has refocused on pharmaceutical laboratories and distributors, as well as perfumers, cosmetics laboratories and contract packagers.

Over these years, enhanced by the experience acquired over two generations, GRAVIS has been able to develop strong partnerships with leading European glassmakers and bottle cap manufacturers, propelling it to a leading independent position in the market.

New organization of our distribution system, by grouping our activity on three French offices.

Sales and logistic treated in the past in Valenciennes are now performed in TRELAZE / NEUVILLE SUR SAONE / ORLY

During all the past years, and thanks to an experience from 2 generations, GRAVIS developed strong partnership with the biggest European glass factories, and the stoppers producers, giving the leadership of independent distribution of the French market.