History
The Colruyt Group story is one of many changes. Sometimes due to a well thought out plan, sometimes in response to the unexpected. The common thread is clear: the name Colruyt. To give you an overview, we’ve shown some key moments in chronological order.

New: Boni Selection milk from our project with Inex and 330 Belgian dairy farmers. A stable price offers them greater income security for 5 years.
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First basil from our vertical farm designed by us goes on sale at Bio-Planet. Plants with a minimal ecological footprint.
Read moreFirst broadcast on Studio 100 TV of 'De Pottenlikkers', a coproduction of the Colruyt cooking team and Studio 100.
All of our food stores ban single-use plastic bags for loose fruit and vegetables. Only reusable versions will be available from now on!

Launch of Collect&Go Connect, a platform that makes it easy to shop for each other at our neighbourhood store OKay.
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Fiets! is an integral part of Colruyt Group. The bicycle expert has 13 outlets and specialises in the sale and maintenance of e-bikes.
Discover Fiets!Launch of the FLORA research project into the health benefits of personalised nutrition, in collaboration with Collect&Go, SmartWithFood and 2 knowledge institutions.
Opening of new regional office in Kortrijk, after Merelbeke in June 2019 and Denderhoutem at the end of 2018.
Colruyt Kortrijk tests scales with automatic product recognition, for loose products without a barcode.

Our online shopping service Collect&Go tests a home delivery service in the Brussels periphery.
Read moreStart of direct collaboration with 3 cooperatives of Belgian beef farmers: for greater market certainty, quality and transparency in the chain.

Xtra has more than 4.5 million customers! Meanwhile, you can also use Xtra to pay in our stores and refuel at DATS 24. With both the app and the card.

Colruyt begins to roll out electronic price labels. Leading to faster price adjustments, less paper and more time for other tasks in store.
Read moreNew Belgian apple variety Magic Star on the shelves. Grown by Belgian producers, sustainable and exclusively available at Colruyt Group.
We reach the milestone of 1.000 students in vocational and part-time education following a five-year programme of practical teaching on site.
First edition of the 'Round up' campaign. Customers round up at the checkout and support educational projects of our company fund Collibri Foundation.
We become co-owner of web pharmacy Newpharma and bring in a lot of expertise in e-commerce, logistics and marketing.
Read more about NewpharmaThe 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: all the specific advantages of 10 Colruyt Group stores and web shops.
Read more about XTRAThe 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.
Read moreOf the 100% sustainable electricity that the group uses, 25% is now produced by Eoly.

Colruyt Group engineers innovate with a new kind of refrigerated container with liquid ice for transporting fresh products.
Read moreOKay 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.
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.
Read more about Collibri FoundationColruyt Group supports Belgian apple and pear growers and pig farmers, with volume purchases for example.
Symeta stops its offset printing activities.

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

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.
Read more about SoluciousWE-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.
Read more about Boni SelectionThe 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.
Read moreColruyt 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.
Read more about Colruyt Group AcademyCustomers 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.
Read morePrinter Druco and Mitto merge to form Symeta, specialist in print and document management, as well as in direct marketing.
Read more about SymetaColruyt 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.

Rice from Benin is the first Colruyt house brand product to carry the Max Havelaar label.
How can we have a stronger impact on those ahead of and behind us in the chain? Our response: source more sustainably and help customers consume more consciously. We set our commitment formally in a manifesto.
Read moreFrom now on, 1.6 million Colruyt customers get a personalised ‘Selection for you’ folder.
Colruyt Group takes over Foodinvest, one of the largest players in the Belgian foodservice market.
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.
Read more about Everyday
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.
Read more about Collibri FoundationColruyt Group becomes licence holder of the Spar chain in Belgium. As a result, it once more works with independent shopkeepers.
Read more about Spar Colruyt Group
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.
Thanks to Collect&Go, customers can also order their shopping online and pick it up in a Colruyt shop.
Read more about Collect&GoThe company builds its first wind turbine in Halle.
The neighbourhood shop chain OKay and Collivery, the home delivery service, open.
Read more about OKayThe 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.
Read more about DreamlandColruyt’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.
Read more about DATS 24
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.