Colruyt

On the Colruyt homepage, the only reference to sustainable food is ‘poisson durable’ (sustainable fish). They say that in September 2012 the group decided to stock sustainable fish. Since September 2013, no endangered wild species make up their range. Fish that they couldn’t get alternatives for were withdrawn from their range. Colruyt selects fishing methods that respect the environment and areas where effective fisheries management is in force. The next phase of the plan will look at farmed fish.

Digging a little deeper I found a whole section on the chain’s green credentials. First up, Colruyt “has shares” in the largest renewable energy project in Belgium, Belwind. As well as this, one of the Colruyt group companies WE-Power, produces green energy for internal use. It does this through various energy care and sustainable energy production projects such as solar panels on stores and wind turbines on the group’s sites. Colruyt is also working towards reducing its overall energy consumption by 20% by the year 2020.

To reduce CO₂ emissions, they are focusing on moving products by sea and land means. This extends to smarter logistics to restock their distribution centres and stores. The chain is also looking at the fuel it uses to power their vehicles and adapting these to reducing emissions.  

Optimal supply chain management means that (Colruyt claims) the chain sells 99% of the products they stock, meaning there is little waste. They are also looking at their packaging to encompass recycled materials and reduce waste. Colruyt recycles 77% of its waste, including fermentable waste.

They donate almost expired and food in damaged packages to the Belgian Federation of Food Banks. 

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