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Solucious accelerates its ambitious growth with the appointment of Pieter-Jan Vandevelde as Business Unit Manager

Solucious accelerates its ambitious growth with the appointment of Pieter-Jan Vandevelde as Business Unit Manager

Thursday, January 8, 2026

Solucious is one of the fastest-growing and most prominent players in the foodservice market. Colruyt Group's foodservice specialist has performed exceptionally well in recent years, thanks to its unique combination of convenience, reliable delivery service and low cost. The business has expanded significantly in recent years, both through organic growth and acquisitions (Culinoa in 2021, Valfrais and Délidis in 2024), creating a strong, unified entity. From now on, this foodservice business will be led by a new Business Unit Manager: Pieter-Jan Vandevelde Together with the team, he will focus on driving further growth in the coming years across the Public & Health and Hospitality segments, as well as in Colruyt Group’s broader B2B offering.

Fresh impetus for the strongest grower in the foodservice market

Solucious (created in 2013 following the merger of Collivery and Foodinvest) has grown over the past twelve years into a leading player. Colruyt Group's foodservice specialist supplies food products (ambient, fresh and frozen) to professional customers across Belgium, particularly in hospitality, social catering (schools, hospitals, health and care organisations, etc.) and corporate catering. More than 20,000 Customers choose Solucious for its ease of use, competitive and consistent pricing with volume discounts and reliable service. In financial year 24-25, the company recorded an increase of about 10% in volume and nearly 12% in turnover, driven mainly by growth in hospitality and partly in social catering. The entire foodservice business generated more than EUR 330 million in turnover, one-fifth more than the previous year.

Joining the forces of Solucious with Culinoa (2021), Valfrais and Délidis (2024) — each with their own specialisations — has created a very strong entity with significant potential. Since 1 January, Pieter-Jan Vandevelde has taken on the role of Business Unit Manager for these 4 brands. Pieter-Jan brings extensive experience in Corporate Development and has been active within Colruyt Group since 2021, where, among other things, he coordinated several major acquisition projects (including Smatch/Match). With his experience, results-oriented approach and unifying leadership style, he will help shape the continued growth of these foodservice activities. Pieter-Jan Vandevelde: “I am very much looking forward to continuing to working with the team to further build on the ambitious growth objectives that Colruyt Group has set for Solucious across the various ​ foodservice segments. These include "Public & Health", where Solucious has held a strong position for several years, and "Hospitality", which has grown significantly in recent years. In addition, there is substantial potential to accelerate growth in B2B more broadly”.

Supporting public & health with worry-free service

Within Public & Health - the professional kitchens of public and care organisations such as hospitals and residential care centres – Solucious has long been a trusted partner. Pieter-Jan Vandevelde adds: “We will continue to focus on growth in this sector by further relieving customers of operational burdens, including through the smart kitchen platform Culinoa. As a provider of meal services in residential and care facilities, Culinoa can also advise these centres on menu composition for the care sector or on adapted preparation methods.

Ambitious growth plans in hospitality

Growth ambitions in hospitality are high. It is a highly diverse market, with a wide range of needs. Hospitality customers already turn to Solucious and to our colleagues of Colruyt Professionals for products and logistics services. Pieter-Jan Vandevelde: “For hospitality customers, we want to make it even easier to run a successful business. We listen to their needs and respond with solutions that support them in their daily operations. Thanks to our regional Walloon player Valfrais and fresh-produce specialist Délidis, we can cater to local preferences and offer ultra-fresh products."

Further investments: focusing on sustainable transport and digitalisation

Solucious is the only 100% Belgian player delivering across the entire country: from 7 logistics centres - Oudenburg, Ghent, Bornem, Wommelgem, Brussels (Lot), Gembloux and Liege - the whole of Belgium is supplied. The unique hub model is not only sustainable, the strategic implantation of the 7 hubs ensures also proximity to customers, increasing the reliability of on-time delivery. Pieter-Jan Vandevelde: “As new customers choose Solucious, we will continue to expand our network with additional hubs”.

Sustainable transport to and from these hubs remains a key priority. Solucious plays a key role in delivering Colruyt Group’s sustainable transport ambitions, and we will keep investing accordingly. Our 280 in-house delivery drivers are on the road every day in the most sustainable way possible: our transport model focuses on reducing the number of kilometres driven and the associated emissions. By 2024, about 15% of deliveries in major cities were emission-free. The twelve electric refrigerated trucks accounted for 6,525 electric deliveries, and all transport equipment in our distribution centres is already fully electric," says Pieter-Jan Vandevelde.

In addition, significant investments have already been made recently to enable further reliable growth as well as to enhance customer convenience: for example, new control systems in logistics and continued digitalisation for customers and behind the scenes, across all 4 brands within the foodservice specialisation.

At the moment, it is still a bit too soon for Pieter-Jan to give extensive interviews, as he wants to familiarize himself thoroughly first. If there is any long-term interest in doing so, and/or if you still have additional questions, please feel free to get in touch via press@colruytgroup.com.

Colruyt Group has been building expertise in foodservice for over 25 years. A timeline:

  • In 1998, Colruyt Group started with Collivery: delivering food products to individuals and companies.
  • In 2010, the family expanded: Foodinvest was added, which supplied professional clients.
  • In 2013, Collivery and Foodinvest merged. This led to the creation of Solucious, the 100% Belgian foodservice company for professionals.
  • In 2021, Culinoa became part of the Colruyt Group family. They support more than 100 large kitchens in healthcare institutions and fully complement Solucious’ service. In 2024, Solucious took over Valfrais: an important regional foodservice in the south of the country, specialized in ultra fresh. With this investment, Solucious is focusing on further growth.
  • In 2024, Délidis also joined our family: a leading supplier of (ultra) fresh products to professional customers in the hospitality industry. A logical step to further expand our expertise.