25-year anniversary of a. hartrodt Switzerland
Business evenly split between sea and air freight for import and export.
For a quarter of a century, a. hartrodt has been successful on the Swiss market. "We have a very balanced sea and air freight business, which is also evenly split between import and export," emphasizes Jens Roemer, the Regional Managing Director responsible for French-speaking Europe. While the international freight forwarding company with its global network was initially the growth driver, Gabriela Aebi-Tövishati as Managing Director of a. hartrodt Switzerland and her team have been developing the market under their own steam since the end of 2020. Milestones in 2024 were the relocation of the headquarters to Rheinfelden and a new office at Zurich Airport.
History: It all started with sea freight for global customers
The Swiss subsidiary was launched in Basel on February 18, 2000 with Heino Bans as Managing Director. In July 2009, Peter Hofer took over as Managing Director until he retired at the end of 2020. "The first decades were characterized by very solid sea freight services for long-standing, global network customers," reports Jens Roemer. There is practically no fluctuation in the well-trained team of currently 14 people.
Future: Great potential in new warehouse logistics area
"We want to grow sustainably and have created capacity for this by relocating our headquarters, " says Gabriela Aebi-Tövishati. For a year now, the national company has been based in its own, climate-friendly renovated building in Rheinfelden. The Managing Director explains that "a lot of industry is moving from Basel to the surrounding area", and the new location better reflects this development. From here, a. hartrodt Switzerland also handles its own sea freight pre- and onward carriage by rail or on the river Rhine. Gabriela Aebi-Tövishati also sees "great potential" in the new warehouse logistics area at Zurich Airport.
To mark the company's 25-year anniversary, a big "family party" is planned for all a. hartrodt Switzerland employees in April. "We feel a close bond thanks to our long collaboration," emphasizes the Managing Director, who has been with the company for eleven years.