Hygie31 is proud to announce that its CEO, Hervé Jouves, was awarded La Dépêche du Midi's Entrepreneur Prize 2024 during a ceremony that took place in Casino Barrière in Toulouse on 9 December.
This prize, awarded by a panel of experts from the world of business and the media, honours entrepreneurs whose commitment, innovation and leadership have had a significant impact on their sector and region.
A committed, visionary entrepreneur
Herven Jouves, a graduate of INSEEC Bordeaux Business School, spent most of his career working for retail chains (Darty, Conforama, Delbard and Virgin Megastore). In 2012, he was appointed Managing Director of Laf Santé where he drew on his expertise to structure the group and develop a business model that was totally one of a kind in the healthcare sector.
As such, Hervé Jouves turned a network of 30 pharmacies into an unparalleled Healthcare ecosystem on a European scale, Hygie31, which focuses on 3 pillars:
- A Group chain model "Healthcare for everyone", which can be rolled out internationally
- Developing services to ensure the viability of local pharmacies and to strengthen regional networks
- and a digital business, already implemented in 7 countries
A disruptive model presaging tomorrow's pharmacies
In 2012, Hervé Jouves, who firmly believes in making healthcare accessible to everyone, took on a bold challenge: to create the first chain of pharmacies that upholds French citizens' purchasing power. He invented the "low prices / great choice / personalized advice" concept through Pharmacie Lafayette, France's favourite socially-committed chain.
5 years before the emergence of Covid, with a service-focused vision of pharmacies, Hervé Jouves yet again shook up the market by using this innovative model for Pharmacie Lafayette. Since the pandemic, the chain has maintained its leadership position by introducing new public healthcare tasks.
In 2021, Hervé Jouves created Hygie31 with the ambition of becoming one of Europe's Healthcare leaders. Hygie31's rapid development is driven by its 8 subsidiaries, which mutually benefit each other and contribute to the Group's development, as well as by its ability to invest in tomorrow, in particular in AI and logistics.
With combined turnover of 3.3 billion euro in 2024, 7 acquisitions in 3 years, bringing the Group to 1,400 pharmacies across Europe, 15,000 networked pharmacy employees and 500 corporate employees, the Toulouse-based company has become a pivotal healthcare sector player, while actively contributing to the region's economic development.
A strategy that led Hygie31 to take 3rd place in the recent ranking of Occitania companies (at regional level by turnover), just behind Airbus and Altrad (Le Journal des Entreprises ranking).
Hygie31's adventure is a three-part one. The first was to promote health for everyone, the second was to train network pharmacists to help them expand their services, the third is bringing one to three companies a year into the Hygie31 fold, and this adventure has only just begun!
A prize to centre stage business success stories in the Occitania region
The Entrepreneur Prize 2024, organized for the 2nd year running by Dépêche Group, is an event created to honour Occitania's entrepreneur of the year. It awards prizes to four entrepreneurs:
- The Entrepreneur of the year
- The Entrepreneur who has made an impact
- The innovative Entrepreneur
- The Young Entrepreneur
This regional business event, the only award organized by a press group, honours the region's top entrepreneurs. The aim is to reward the entrepreneurs who are the real drivers of the region's economy.