Employee Contact us NL FR About us Brands Investors Press Working for us Home About us SHARE 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. Go to 1928 Jul 2021 Colruyt Group increases its stake in the online pharmacy Newpharma to 61%. Apr 2021 Acquisition of the Belgian fitness chain JIMS, with 27 fitness clubs in Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Apr 2021 Acquisition of the Belgian foodservice company Culinoa, partner of over 100 industrial kitchens in the healthcare sector. Apr 2021 From now on, DATS 24 supplies natural gas and 100% green Belgian electricity to individuals. Mar 2021 FIETS! is renamed Bike Republic. Mar 2021 A first: launch of the Eco-Score, that indicates the environmental impact of products in a simple manner. Feb 2021 From now on, customers can also collect their purchases in our online pharmacy Newpharma at Colruyt and Okay stores. Jan 2021 The colleagues of more than 500 stores are given an extra day off on 2 January, to thank them for their efforts during the coronavirus crisis. Dec 2020 A first: Colruyt Group is the first retailer to test a 44-tonne hydrogen-powered truck. Nov 2020 Coronavirus crisis: Solucious delivers online orders at home for healthcare workers across Belgium. Oct 2020 Coronavirus crisis: Colruyt Group offers jobs to more than 2.000 people on furlough from hard-hit sectors. Sep 2020 After 35 years, Collishop stops non-food sales through the webshop and continues its network of collection points. Sep 2020 The group increases its stake in Fraluc Group to more than 96%. This holding company comprises the clothing chains ZEB, ZEB For Stars, The Fashion Store and PointCarré. Aug 2020 Acquisition of Joos Hybrid; its activities are perfectly complementary to the activities of our print and document specialist Symeta. Jul 2020 Fiets! (now Bike Republic) launches its own line of electric bikes under the house brand Hiron. Jun 2020 Coronavirus crisis: Colruyt distributes 6 million sets of free removable grips for the shopping trolleys. May 2020 Coronavirus crisis: Colruyt Group Academy distributes 5.000 free sewing packages, with which volunteers make 125.000 facemasks for the healthcare sector at home. Apr 2020 Coronavirus crisis: Colruyt Group pulls out all the stops to continue to fulfil its social role and to maintain the food supply, with as the utmost priority the safety of employees and customers. Apr 2020 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. Read more Mar 2020 First basil from our vertical farm designed by us goes on sale at Bio-Planet. Plants with a minimal ecological footprint. Read more Feb 2020 First broadcast on Studio 100 TV of 'De Pottenlikkers', a coproduction of the Colruyt cooking team and Studio 100. Jan 2020 All of our food stores ban single-use plastic bags for loose fruit and vegetables. Only reusable versions will be available from now on! Jan 2020 Launch of Collect&Go Connect, a platform that makes it easy to shop for each other at our neighbourhood store OKay. Read more Dec 2019 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! Nov 2019 Launch of the FLORA research project into the health benefits of personalised nutrition, in collaboration with Collect&Go, SmartWithFood and 2 knowledge institutions. Oct 2019 Opening of new regional office in Kortrijk, after Merelbeke in June 2019 and Denderhoutem at the end of 2018. Aug 2019 Colruyt Kortrijk tests scales with automatic product recognition, for loose products without a barcode. May 2019 Our online shopping service Collect&Go tests a home delivery service in the Brussels periphery. Read more Apr 2019 Start of direct collaboration with 3 cooperatives of Belgian beef farmers: for greater market certainty, quality and transparency in the chain. Apr 2019 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. Mar 2019 Colruyt begins to roll out electronic price labels. Leading to faster price adjustments, less paper and more time for other tasks in store. Read more Jan 2019 New Belgian apple variety Magic Star on the shelves. Grown by Belgian producers, sustainable and exclusively available at Colruyt Group. Nov 2018 We reach the milestone of 1.000 students in vocational and part-time education following a five-year programme of practical teaching on site. Nov 2018 First edition of the 'Round up' campaign. Customers round up at the checkout and support educational projects of our company fund Collibri Foundation. Dec 2017 We become co-owner of web pharmacy Newpharma and bring in a lot of expertise in e-commerce, logistics and marketing. Read more about Newpharma Sep 2017 The first stores without gas or oil boiler emit 99% less CO2 for their heating. Jun 2017 Eoly can supply green power to the first public charging stations network in Flanders. Apr 2017 Coryphée and Magic Star: two new, sustainable apple varieties exclusive for our group. Mar 2017 Xtra: all the specific advantages of 10 Colruyt Group stores and web shops. Read more about XTRA Feb 2017 The SmartWithFood app helps customers to find tailor-made nutrition. Jan 2017 Colruyt Group Fine Food Meat opens a second site, including a production line for vegetarian alternatives amongst other things. Aug 2016 Colruyt Group becomes a ‘voice’ of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. Mar 2016 The official opening of Colruyt Group’s new hydrogen station on the Dassenveld site in Halle. Read more Jan 2016 Of the 100% sustainable electricity that the group uses, 25% is now produced by Eoly. Jan 2016 Colruyt Lowest Prices switches to sustainable propane refrigeration in its shops. Read more Jan 2016 Colruyt Group engineers innovate with a new kind of refrigerated container with liquid ice for transporting fresh products. Read more Nov 2015 Energy producer and supplier WE-power renames itself Eoly. Read more about Eoly Sep 2015 OKay and Bio-Planet get their own distribution centre in Lot. Aug 2015 Collect&Go gets a new logo and a fresh look, and extends its service with the Bio-Planet range. May 2015 A new distribution centre opens in Ath/Lessines. Apr 2015 Colruyt France opens the first example of a brand new shop concept in Dôle. Nov 2014 The first Cru market opens in Overijse. Read more about Cru Sep 2014 Customers can now also pay using their mobile phones in Colruyt Group shops and webshops. Sep 2014 Collibri also supports training projects for young people in difficult socio-economic circumstances in Belgium. Read more about Collibri Foundation Aug 2014 Colruyt Group supports Belgian apple and pear growers and pig farmers, with volume purchases for example. Jun 2014 Colruyt Group acquires 50% of the Belgian clothing chain, ZEB. Read more about ZEB May 2014 Symeta stops its offset printing activities. Jan 2014 Colruyt Group Fine Food Bread bakes its first bread for Colruyt and OKay. Jan 2014 Baby specialist Dreambaby unveils its house brand: Dreambee. Read more about Dreambee Oct 2013 Dreamland launches its own toy brand under the same name. Read more about the Dreamland brand Sep 2013 The group launches a new logo. With Colruyt Group as the family name, all chains keep their links with the past. Aug 2013 Collivery and Foodinvest merge to form Solucious, a new foodservice company. Read more about Solucious Jul 2013 WE-Power is recognised as Colruyt Group’s electricity supplier. May 2013 The new Boni Selection house brand is created and combines more than 50 former Colruyt Group house brands. Read more about Boni Selection Aug 2012 The first OKay Compact opens in Ixelles. Jun 2012 Colruyt’s first low-energy shop opens in Wépion. Jun 2012 Colruyt Group completes the financing of the Northwind wind farm and combines all its sustainable electricity activities under WE-Power. May 2012 In addition to selling loose eggs, Colruyt Group now resolves to have free-range eggs in all its house brand products. Apr 2012 The group sells the industrial automation company intrion to its management. Feb 2012 Colruyt Group produces 100% green hydrogen and tests it as a sustainable energy source. Read more Jan 2012 Colruyt Group opens an office in Hong Kong to look after Far East purchasing. Jan 2012 Colruyt Group crosses the 25,000 employee threshold. Sep 2011 Jef Colruyt introduces Colruyt Group Academy, the training institute for employees, customers and partners. Read more about Colruyt Group Academy Jun 2011 Customers can now order their shopping using their smartphones via the Collect&Go app. Apr 2011 The 50th French Colruyt shop opens. Feb 2011 DATS 24 opens the first Belgian public CNG fuel stations (natural gas for vehicles), one of the most sustainable fossil fuels. Read more Jan 2011 Printer Druco and Mitto merge to form Symeta, specialist in print and document management, as well as in direct marketing. Read more about Symeta Jan 2011 Colruyt Group launches an ethical charter for its buyers. Dec 2010 The first wind turbines in the Belwind wind farm off the coast of Zeebrugge start operation. Colruyt Group is one of the shareholders. Oct 2010 Bio-Planet Leuven is the first low-energy shop in the country. Read more Sep 2010 Rice from Benin is the first Colruyt house brand product to carry the Max Havelaar label. Apr 2010 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 more Jan 2010 From now on, 1.6 million Colruyt customers get a personalised ‘Selection for you’ folder. Jan 2010 Colruyt Group takes over Foodinvest, one of the largest players in the Belgian foodservice market. Apr 2009 Printer Druco joins forces with Mitto, a specialist in one-to-one-mailings and document management. Jan 2009 Dreamland opens its first French shop in Leers. Sep 2008 Dolmen Industrial Projects and Createch Engineering merge to form intrion (automation of production and logistics processes). Jun 2008 The first Colruyt shop opens in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Jan 2008 Colruyt Group starts buying green electricity. 2007 Colruyt launches the Extra card: coupon clipping is a thing of the past. Sep 2006 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). Jan 2006 The new Everyday house brand gathers low-price brands from Colruyt, OKay, Spar and Codifrance under one single name. Read more about Everyday 2005 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 Foundation Jan 2003 Colruyt 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 Jan 2003 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. 2002 Dreamland and Colruyt draw up a charter against child labour. Dec 2001 Colruyt starts Pro à Pro, a major foodservice player in the French market. Oct 2001 The first Dreambaby opens in Tienen, specialising in baby products. Read more about Dreambaby Jul 2001 Colruyt opens its first Bio-Planet organic supermarket in Kortrijk. Read more about Bio-Planet 2000 Thanks to Collect&Go, customers can also order their shopping online and pick it up in a Colruyt shop. Read more about Collect&Go 1999 The company builds its first wind turbine in Halle. Jan 1998 The neighbourhood shop chain OKay and Collivery, the home delivery service, open. Read more about OKay Jan 1998 Colruyt’s truck drivers sign a charter for safer and more courteous driving. Read more 1997 Colruyt opens its first shop in France. Read more about Colruyt Prix Qualité 1996 The group acquires all the shares of French retailer Ripotot and crosses the border for the first time. Oct 1994 Jo dies. His son Jef Colruyt follows in his footsteps. The company now has over 5,000 employees. Jan 1994 The group expands with 5 Droomland shops which are later renamed Dreamland. Read more about Dreamland 1990 Colruyt’s management and employees commit themselves to the environment (Green Line charter) and the first organic products hit the shelves. 1987 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. 1984 The meat processing company Vlevico (Vlees Viande Colruyt) gets a new building in the Stroppen (Sint-Pieters-Leeuw) industrial zone. 1982 Colruyt’s IT system is unique in European retailing. An independent company, nv Dolmen, grows out of the IT department. Jan 1979 Nv Colruyt is listed on the stock market. Jan 1979 Colruyt’s own printing company, nv Druco, is created from the printing department. 1976 All Discount shops are renamed Colruyt because competitors now also use the term ‘discount’. 1974 The Hellebroek distribution centre opens. 1972 The first DATS petrol station opens. DATS stands for Discount Automatic Tanking Service. Read more about DATS 24 Jan 1964 The first Discount shops grow out of the Cash & Carry concept, with the lowest prices for consumers. Jan 1964 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. Nov 1958 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. Jan 1958 The first Super Boni shops open, as attractive self-service supermarkets for consumers. 1953 Loyal shopkeepers receive a billboard. The Boni shops are born. 1950 Etn. Franz Colruyt nv is founded, a food wholesaler. 1937 Franz decides to roast coffee himself and to bottle wine. 1928 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. About us Our Brands Investors Press Working For Us Contact us Company details © Colruyt Group 2021 Privacystatement Colruyt Group Cookie Policy Cookie settings E-mail disclaimer Cookies Button By clicking “Accept all cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyse site usage and assist in our marketing efforts. Accept all cookies Cookie settings