First harvest bread wheat of Belgian chain project is a success

Colruyt Group announces that the first organic bread wheat of the Belgian chain project has been harvested and was found qualitatively good enough to grind flour from it and bake Belgian organic bread with it. The fully Belgian organic bread from this harvest will be on offer at Bio-Planet from the beginning of December onwards. Thanks to this cooperation agreement each individual farmer in this chain project will benefit from guaranteed sales at a price agreed upon in advance. The success of this first harvest is an incentive for other organic wheat farmers to opt for quality varieties of organic bread wheat and enter the chain project as well. Colruyt Group looks back with satisfaction on this first organic bread wheat season and will scale up the project next year.

Friday, October 22, 2021

Colruyt Group wants to support the sector of organic bread wheat in our country and at the same time introduce an extensive Belgian assortment on the store shelves. That's why it engaged in a Belgian chain project with 8 Belgian partners to grow high-quality organic bread wheat and process it into organic bread that is Belgian from A to Z. Beforehand, clear agreements were made between the chain partners (farmers, miller, bakery and retailer) about price, quality and volumes. Together they sowed 12 hectares of organic bread wheat, geographically spread across Belgium. 
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Qualitative harvest

In the meantime, the first harvest of organic bread wheat of the Belgian chain project has arrived, albeit slightly later than anticipated due to the bad weather conditions during the summer. Samples were taken of all batches of organic bread wheat to check their quality. For quality control, Colruyt Group relied on a number of market-based parameters such as the hectolitre weight, the Zeleny value and the protein level in the wheat. Based on the results of the sample tests, we can confirm with some pride that both the summer wheat and the winter wheat are products of bread-making quality: they are of sufficient quality to be milled into flour and be used for baking bread. Only one batch was rejected because of loose smut. The rest will be used for baking Belgian organic bread.
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100% Belgian organic bread at Bio-Planet

The baking tests at the millers' were also satisfactory and meanwhile one batch of bread wheat has been milled and is ready for baking bread. The other wheat batches of bread-making quality are stored at the farmers' to be used on demand. The bakery uses it to bake 500 and 800 g loafs of organic bread and also organic baguettes, which are all Belgian from A to Z and will be available at Bio-Planet from the beginning of December onwards. This 100% Belgian organic bread will be added to the assortment of the 31 stores and the web shop of Bio-Planet.
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Added value for the farmers

Beforehand, clear agreements were made between the partners in the chain project about volume, quality and price. All farmers are sure of their sales at a price agreed upon in advance. The harvest was good and the return was even a bit higher than expected. After receiving this positive news the decision was made to scale up the volume for next year. Up to 15 November winter wheat of the types Arminius and Mochus will again be sown. These will be harvested next year in the summer. We are convinced that this chain project will give the sector of Belgian organic bread wheat a boost and will incite other organic wheat farmers to opt for quality varieties of organic bread wheat.


For questions, please contact Colruyt Group's press office
​ via [email protected] or 0473 92 45 10.