world leader in the sale of petanque balls

The company, created in 1955, sells two million balls per year in France and abroad. By adapting to the evolution of practitioners.

1907, in La Ciotat. This is where pétanque was officially born. But it was in a village in the Loire, Saint-Bonnet-Le-Château, that the first boule, as we know it today, was created. And it was in this same village that in 1955, the grandfather, father and uncle of Pierre Souvignet, the current general director of the brand, decided to create Obut, originally “La Boule au but”.

Today, Obut produces and sells two million pétanque balls per year, half of them for competitive players. In France of course, but also in Thailand, which represents the second largest market in the world. “My father was quite a pioneer at the time in developing foreign markets,” says Pierre Souvignet.

The profile of the typical player has also evolved. If the bob on the head and pastis in the hand practitioner still exists, things have changed: “More and more young people, women too, are playing pétanque,” explains the general director of Obut.

Covid and lockdowns have also changed practices: “As some have built a chicken coop, others have made room in the garden for the game of boules. So the activity is less seasonal than before.”