Following a successful summer, the Belgian Bel’Mer mussel season is coming to an end. With a harvest of more than 100 tonnes, Colruyt Group looks back with satisfaction on the 2026 season. Belgian mussels have been available since 2 July at Colruyt, Okay, Spar and a number of hospitality venues along the Belgian coast. The coming months will be dedicated to preparing for the next season and to developing a fully Belgian mussel value chain. The last mussels are currently being harvested and will remain available until 7 October.
Belgian moules-frites
On 1 July, Colruyt Group officially opened the Belgian mussel season during the very first Bel’Mer Mussel Festival in Nieuwpoort, attended by, among others, Annelies Verlinden, Hilde Crevits and Mayor Kris Vandecasteele.
The Belgian mussels subsequently made their way to consumers throughout Belgium. For the first time, Bel’Mer mussels were available in 260 Colruyt stores, 150 Okay stores and around 40 Spar Colruyt Group stores, allowing customers across the country to buy Belgian mussels from the North Sea.
A Belgian summer would not be complete without Belgian mussels as part of a genuine moules-frites experience. One of the highlights of the season was therefore Belgium’s National Day, when 2,000 visitors enjoyed Bel’Mer mussels at Place du Jeu de Balle in the heart of Brussels.
In total, more than 100 tonnes of Belgian mussels were harvested this season from the Bel’Mer sea farm off the coast of Nieuwpoort. The only Belgian mussels on the market will remain available at Colruyt, Okay and Spar Colruyt Group until 7 October.
Warehouse in Nieuwpoort strengthens local anchoring
In addition to the harvest, 2026 was also an important year for the further development of Belgian mussel farming. Colruyt Group was allocated a warehouse at the Nieuwpoort fish auction site by the City of Nieuwpoort.
Gunther Uyttenhove of Colruyt Group: "We are very pleased with our collaboration with and the support from the City of Nieuwpoort. This warehouse allows us to organise our aquaculture activities more efficiently and further develop a fully local value chain. As a Belgian retailer, we believe it is important to keep as many activities as possible in Belgium. In doing so, we create local added value and show our customers what is possible in Belgium and along our coast, while also letting them experience and taste the results."
The warehouse will be used to further expand the aquaculture activities and will make it possible to organise the processing, purification and packaging of the mussels locally. This will enable Colruyt Group to realise its ambition of establishing a fully Belgian value chain, as mussel cultivation, processing and final packaging will all take place in Nieuwpoort.
The coming months dedicated to preparation
Although the season is drawing to a close, work at sea and on shore continues unabated.
Gunther Uyttenhove: "The coming months will be dedicated to preparing for the 2027 season. We will continue maintaining the offshore installations and fully equip the warehouse in Nieuwpoort. We will also keep investing in research and knowledge development to further refine Belgian mussel farming. In this way, we aim to strengthen the quality, sustainability and availability of our Belgian mussels year after year."
While Bel’Mer mussels will temporarily disappear from store shelves at the end of the season, the next generation of Belgian mussels is already continuing to grow at the sea farm.
Colruyt Group is looking forward to opening the Belgian mussel season once again next year with the only mussels produced in Belgium. In doing so, the retailer hopes to introduce even more Belgians to mussels from the North Sea, cultivated off the coast of Nieuwpoort.
