History

4.2 million Xtra cards in circulation! Meanwhile, the customer card has become a payment and refuelling card as well, and Colruyt Group Academy also came aboard.

The Apporto app makes it easier than ever to shop for other people or have someone else shop for you.

We become co-owner of web pharmacy Newpharma and bring in a lot of expertise in e-commerce, logistics and marketing.

The first stores without gas or oil boiler emit 99% less CO2 for their heating.

Eoly can supply green power to the first public charging stations network in Flanders.

Coryphée and Magic Star: two new, sustainable apple varieties exclusive for our group.

Xtra: 1 customer card, 1 app and 1 password for 10 Colruyt Group chains and webshops.

The SmartWithFood app helps customers to find tailor-made nutrition.

Colruyt Group Fine Food Meat opens a second site, including a production line for vegetarian alternatives amongst other things.

Colruyt Group becomes a ‘voice’ of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

The official opening of Colruyt Group’s new hydrogen station on the Dassenveld site in Halle.

Of the 100% sustainable electricity that the group uses, 25% is now produced by Eoly.

Colruyt Lowest Prices switches to sustainable propane refrigeration in its shops.

Colruyt Group engineers innovate with a new kind of refrigerated container with liquid ice for transporting fresh products.

Energy producer and supplier WE-power renames itself Eoly.

OKay and Bio-Planet get their own distribution centre in Lot.

Collect&Go gets a new logo and a fresh look, and extends its service with the Bio-Planet range.

A new distribution centre opens in Ath/Lessines.

Colruyt France opens the first example of a brand new shop concept in Dôle.

The first Cru market opens in Overijse.

Customers can now also pay using their mobile phones in Colruyt Group shops and webshops.

Collibri also supports training projects for young people in difficult socio-economic circumstances in Belgium.

Colruyt Group supports Belgian apple and pear growers and pig farmers, with volume purchases for example.

Colruyt Group acquires 50% of the Belgian clothing chain, ZEB.

Symeta stops its offset printing activities.

Colruyt Group Fine Food Bread bakes its first bread for Colruyt and OKay.

Baby specialist Dreambaby unveils its house brand: Dreambee.

Dreamland launches its own toy brand under the same name.

The group launches a new logo. With Colruyt Group as the family name, all chains keep their links with the past.

Collivery and Foodinvest merge to form Solucious, a new foodservice company.

WE-Power is recognised as Colruyt Group’s electricity supplier.

The new Boni Selection house brand is created and combines more than 50 former Colruyt Group house brands.

The first OKay Compact opens in Ixelles.

Colruyt’s first low-energy shop opens in Wépion.

Colruyt Group completes the financing of the Northwind wind farm and combines all its sustainable electricity activities under WE-Power.

In addition to selling loose eggs, Colruyt Group now resolves to have free-range eggs in all its house brand products.

The group sells the industrial automation company intrion to its management.

Colruyt Group produces 100% green hydrogen and tests it as a sustainable energy source.

Colruyt Group opens an office in Hong Kong to look after Far East purchasing.

Colruyt Group crosses the 25,000 employee threshold.

Jef Colruyt introduces Colruyt Group Academy, the training institute for employees, customers and partners.

Customers can now order their shopping using their smartphones via the Collect&Go app.

The 50th French Colruyt shop opens.

DATS 24 opens the first Belgian public CNG fuel stations (natural gas for vehicles), one of the most sustainable fossil fuels.

Printer Druco and Mitto merge to form Symeta, specialist in print and document management, as well as in direct marketing.

Colruyt Group launches an ethical charter for its buyers.

The first wind turbines in the Belwind wind farm off the coast of Zeebrugge start operation. Colruyt Group is one of the shareholders.

Bio-Planet Leuven is the first low-energy shop in the country.

Rice from Benin is the first Colruyt house brand product to carry the Max Havelaar label.

Colruyt Group takes over Foodinvest, one of the largest players in the Belgian foodservice market.

From now on, 1.6 million Colruyt customers get a personalised ‘Selection for you’ folder.

Printer Druco joins forces with Mitto, a specialist in one-to-one-mailings and document management.

Dreamland opens its first French shop in Leers.

Dolmen Industrial Projects and Createch Engineering merge to form intrion (automation of production and logistics processes).

The first Colruyt shop opens in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

Colruyt Group starts buying green electricity.

Colruyt launches the Extra card: coupon clipping is a thing of the past.

The second wind turbine is built in Ghislenghien, and solar panels are fitted to the Colruyt shop in Ninove and to the Halle distribution centre (8,000m2).

The new Everyday house brand gathers low-price brands from Colruyt, OKay, Spar and Codifrance under one single name.

A new brand name appears: Collibri Foundation. A fixed percentage of the profit from the Boni Selection products goes to education and training projects for third world youngsters.

Colruyt Group becomes licence holder of the Spar chain in Belgium. As a result, it once more works with independent shopkeepers.

The term ‘Colruyt Group’ makes its appearance with the orange logo. It needs to be clear to the outside world that this is a family of companies and no longer just a family business.

Dreamland and Colruyt draw up a charter against child labour.

Colruyt starts Pro à Pro, a major foodservice player in the French market.

The first Dreambaby opens in Tienen, specialising in baby products.

Colruyt opens its first Bio-Planet organic supermarket in Kortrijk.

Thanks to Collect&Go, customers can also order their shopping online and pick it up in a Colruyt shop.

The company builds its first wind turbine in Halle.

Colruyt’s truck drivers sign a charter for safer and more courteous driving.

The neighbourhood shop chain OKay and Collivery, the home delivery service, open.

Colruyt opens its first shop in France.

The group acquires all the shares of French retailer Ripotot and crosses the border for the first time.

Jo dies. His son Jef Colruyt follows in his footsteps. The company now has over 5,000 employees.

The group expands with 5 Droomland shops which are later renamed Dreamland.

Colruyt’s management and employees commit themselves to the environment (Green Line charter) and the first organic products hit the shelves.

Colruyt is the first retailer in Belgium to introduce ‘full scanning’: no more punch cards, just barcodes which are read at the till. So supplies, stock management and ordering are further automated.

The meat processing company Vlevico (Vlees Viande Colruyt) gets a new building in the Stroppen (Sint-Pieters-Leeuw) industrial zone.

Colruyt’s IT system is unique in European retailing. An independent company, nv Dolmen, grows out of the IT department.

Nv Colruyt is listed on the stock market.

Colruyt’s own printing company, nv Druco, is created from the printing department.

All Discount shops are renamed Colruyt because competitors now also use the term ‘discount’.

The Hellebroek distribution centre opens.

The first DATS petrol station opens. DATS stands for Discount Automatic Tanking Service.

The first Discount shops grow out of the Cash & Carry concept, with the lowest prices for consumers.

Delivering to smaller shops becomes too expensive. From now on, they pick up their own goods from the new Cash & Carry in Halle, a self-service business with wholesale prices.

Franz Colruyt dies and his son Jo Colruyt takes over the business together with Franz’s brothers. They now deliver to over 800 independent shops.

The first Super Boni shops open, as attractive self-service supermarkets for consumers.

Loyal shopkeepers receive a billboard. The Boni shops are born.

Etn. Franz Colruyt nv is founded, a food wholesaler.

Franz decides to roast coffee himself and to bottle wine.

Baker’s son Franz Colruyt starts a colonial wholesale goods business (selling things such as coffee, salt and sugar) in Lembeek, to serve grocers in Brussels and the surrounding area.