Colruyt Group has long been active in the organic food market and pioneered in 2001 with Bio-Planet, the organic supermarket offering sustainable and healthy food. By highlighting the benefits and sustainable nature of organic products, the group aims to raise consumer awareness about organic food. With its various retail chains and private labels, the largest Belgian retailer is also the market leader in organic products. The trend within the organic sector is clear: more and more consumers are choosing consciously and sustainably. With nearly 100% organic products at Bio-Planet and over 500 organic products at Colruyt Lowest Prices, the organic offering continues to grow, and Colruyt Group is determined to maintain its leading position.
Strong commitment to a growing organic market in Belgium
Organic is on the rise. According to GfK, spending on organic products in Belgium is increasing more rapidly than overall food spending, which is raising the share of organic within the market. The most recent Nielsen figures also confirm this growth. Turnover in organic products is rising faster than in non-organic (3.2% vs. 2.3% year-on-year) and now accounts for 2.7% of total FMCG food turnover. Colruyt Group (Colruyt Lowest Prices, Okay, Spar, and Bio-Planet) has held a market share of over 35% in organic spending over the past years.
Organic currently represents 3.9% of Colruyt Group’s total turnover. Within that turnover, organic products are more represented in private labels (3.7%) than in national brands (2.01%). Colruyt Group offers a selection of organic products under its private label Boni Bio. Private label organic is growing faster than national organic brands, with private label up 5% compared to just 1% growth for national brands.
Boni Bio products are popular with customers and account for 40.8% of total organic turnover. The combination of Colruyt Group’s conventional stores and the specialised Bio-Planet stores ensures its position as the market leader in Belgium’s organic sector.
Organic more popular in Wallonia and Brussels
The growing demand for organic is especially visible in Flanders, helping to reduce the gap with Wallonia. Flanders is catching up. Per capita spending on organic products in Wallonia amounted to €127 in 2023, two-thirds more than the €83 spent per capita in Flanders. In Wallonia, per capita spending is slightly below that of Brussels, where consumers spend €137 per person on organic products — the highest in the country.
This trend is also visible in Bio-Planet stores. “When we analyse the behaviour of customers in Walloon versus Flemish Bio-Planet stores, we see that customers in the Walloon branches shop more frequently and buy across a broader range of categories — meaning they purchase 14% more in volume and 8% more in turnover compared to customers in Flemish stores,” says Jan Van Holsbeke, Business Unit Manager of Bio-Planet.
More than 5,000 product references
The classic supermarket remains the most important channel for organic product sales, followed by more specialised retailers such as Bio-Planet, which has been a pioneer since 2001 in making sustainable and healthy food more accessible to consumers. With 762 stores, Colruyt Group is the largest organic product retailer in Belgium.
Colruyt Lowest Prices offers more than 500 organic references, 50% of which are private label products. In addition, Bio-Planet is the only supermarket with more than 5,000 organic and ecological products on its shelves. In Bio-Planet stores — where the majority of products are organic — the share of private label is lower, at 6% compared to national organic brands. This is logical given the specialised organic focus. Bio-Planet continues to be a sustainability frontrunner, with a wide range of organic, ecological, and local products, and a strong emphasis on healthy food. As part of Organic Week, customers who spend at least €10 at Bio-Planet (in-store or online via Collect&Go) between 4 June and 1 July will automatically have a chance to win a healthy shopping basket worth €170 from their favourite Bio-Planet store. Customers only need to register once, and each visit (in-store or online) with a scanned Xtra app counts as an extra entry.
