“We were pioneers”

On 28 October 2010 - more than 12 years agothe new Bio-Planet in Leuven opened its doors. “Organic food is widely available nowadays and you can find an organic range in just about every store”, says Karel Vermeulen, the first manager of Bio-Planet Leuven and now working at The Connection. “However, at that time, organic and Bio-Planet were not well known. That summer we went to the annual organic market in the city centre to announce the arrival of our organic supermarket. We set up a stand there with some colleagues and handed out flyers to passers-by with a carton of milk in a Bio-Planet bag. We also introduced our brand: who we are, what we do, what we stand for, etc. I remember the very positive reactions. And that was also confirmed when the shop opened: sales were very good.”

“The store in Leuven was a pioneer in many ways. Not only was it the first low-energy shop in Belgium, it was also a testing ground for innovations which, after evaluation, were or were not rolled out to other stores: air curtains and cooled walls in the fresh food department, skylights for more daylight, LED lighting, electric bicycles, etc. And we also tried out many initiatives ourselves: plant sales with organic farmers, an organic festival, cooperation with social organisations, etc. And a cooking session every Saturday to promote products. These dishes had to be simple and tasty. And it worked! Nowadays organic products are pretty much the same in terms of taste, but this was not always the case in the early days ... (laughs) My regional manager Dirk Peeters had to approve these promotions. Those initiatives were refined later, or turned out to be the start of bigger campaigns."

“Before Leuven I also helped establish the BioPlanet of Ghent. I worked there for 10 years. I dare say that in that time we helped put organic on the map in Belgium. We made it accessible to many people. That may have been our greatest achievement. At the moment I'm still the biggest promoter of organic. When I walk down the street here in Leuven, I'm still regularly addressed as 'the man from Bio-Planet'. It was a great time, which I look back on with great satisfaction. If my knees hadn't decided otherwise, I'd probably still be there ... (laughs)”

If you have any fun pictures you would like to share with us, send us a mail at gazet@ colruytgroup.com or a direct to GAZET.

I get my shopping at OKay Crisnée almost every week. I don't only go there for the products, but also and especially for the welcome and friendliness of the staff. Each staff member has his or her own personality: some are empathetic, others have a great sense of humour. But they all make customers feel at home in the store. Thank you!

Hello Bio-Planet co-worker,

I wanted to let you know that I'm very happy with the new store in Sint-Denijs-Westrem. It's a very nice and pleasant store, close to home! Thank you!

I would like to thank the Collect&Go team at Colruyt Eeklo. Every week we order our shopping and go there to pick it up. Every week there's a happy, correct, punctual and helpful worker. Always with a smile and a ready for a chat. They always explain what shopping there is. They go over everything and don't forget anything. Hats off to them. They do a more than excellent job, they're great professionals and have a warm heart.

Would you please make sure my message gets to them?

Angélique

A recent grandma, I was still figuring out what would be the best toy for my sweet, cute grandson. And then I saw this colourful, stimulating toy at Dreambaby: that's it! He's going to love his proud grandma if I get him this!

I found out about your environment and sustainability initiatives. As a tree lover, I find that particularly commendable when you know that Flanders is in a particularly poor state when it comes to trees.

Kind regards.

Jef

Happy

Stefan and Elsje

Hello OKay management,

After 15 successful years, we want to thank the staff of OKay Hemiksem for their dedication and customer focus. Permanent staff, students and temporary staff do a great job for customers every day. A nice relief in these dark days.

We wish all OKay staff a fantastic 2023, both professionally and privately.

All the best for OKay/Colruyt Group in 2023 as well!

Christiane and Daniël

As locals, we look onto Colruyt Kessel-Lo's green roof from our balcony. I would like to mention here that we're very happy with the view of the new plants and its regular maintenance. It's great that they look after it so well. Customers may not be aware of it, but the locals really enjoy it!

Lil

Welcome, new solution analysts!

In the autumn, the junior solution analysts programme kicked off. A record number of no fewer than 19 enthusiasts were supported and coached to become professional solution analysts. Not only Young Grads this time, but quite a few internal colleagues also found their way to Colruyt Group IT. Participants in the short track joined their team after an intensive month of training to put theory into practice. Those in the long track could first apply the knowledge they had acquired in a project case.

Youca: 200 enthusiastic youngsters

The last Youca day was another huge success: more than 200 students worked for charity. Coordinator Mia Samyn: “We saw and heard some tired but mostly enthusiastic students who were all very positive. The welcome and support were great and any nerves the students had on arrival quickly dissipated. The colleagues of OKay Vichte thanked Mathis Verleyen with a small gift.

Mysterious Sinterklaas at Dreamland

Last summer, the 48 Dreamland stores launched a fun competition. The store with the highest increase in turnover, recognition rate (through Xtra), customer satisfaction and shopping experience by the Sinterklaas period could expect a visit of a surprise Sinterklaas. “Who could it be? That was the burning question on everyone's lips", Veerle De Witte, business unit manager at Dreamland, says. ”All the stores went for it. In the end, the Sambreville colleagues were the ones to welcome the holy man. They were rewarded with a small lunch and an inspiring chat with Sinterklaas and his helpers.” And by the way, those helpers were from the Dreamland management team. And the person hiding behind that white beard was none other than … our CEO, Jef Colruyt!

Christmas mood at Ollignies

In the run-up to Christmas, the festive spirit was quite noticeable at the distribution centre in Ollignies. On the last working day before Christmas, several employees put on their best Christmas jumpers to pack the goods for their colleagues in the stores.

Thanks, Arnold!

“Saturday 31 December was the last working day of our colleague Arnold Spriet”, Marnix Tack, sales assistant at Colruyt Torhout, says. “After a career spanning 40 years at Colruyt, he has earned his retirement. He's the only one who was here when the store opened 31 years ago. All that time he was the driving force of the frozen food department. We all learned a lot from him. And the customers also loved him. Enjoy your retirement, Arnold!”

Sinterklaas and Christmas for all

Waste not, want not, they thought at Dreamland Jemappes. The baggies left over after Sinterklaas' visit were delivered to a nearby school. OKay Roeselare also showed its best side. The left-overs from their Christmas menus went to a night shelter for the homeless. Heart-warming and proof that as a group we can really make a difference!

Bike Republic fraternises in Zolder

On Thursday 10 November, all 27 Bike Republic stores and the head office in Zwijnaarde closed for a team building event. About 175 colleagues headed to the Zolder circuit and got to know each other better. On the agenda: presentations, but mostly fun. A walk on and around the circuit, a bike ride in West Limburg or a real BMX initiation. Apart from a few falls and scratches, everyone survived ... Only smiling faces afterwards.

Walking for Inge

Employee-salesperson Inge Arschoot of Colruyt SintPieters-Bruges has been battling breast cancer and leukaemia for the last two years. In October, she achieved a personal victory: walking 8 km of the marathon of Bruges! Colleagues from Colruyt stores in the wider region of Bruges showed their warmest side: they donated money, or ran or walked themselves. Think Pink collected 3,516 euros with her feat. Respect, Inge and colleagues!

There's no Gazette without you

Do you have a good idea for an article in The Gazette? Tell one of our correspondents. Who knows, maybe your proposal will be published in the Gazette's next edition.

Colruyt Group

Corporate

Nathalie Roisin

Customer Services

Jan Derom

Finance

Annelies Deknopper

Fine Food

Inneke Hanssens

IT

Henk Ruttens

Marcom Services

Benoit Van Trimpont

Group banners

Bio-Planet

Kristel Adriaens

Collect&Go

Sofie Coen

Colex

Iris Missiaen

Colruyt Frankrijk

Marine Streit

Colruyt Group Academy

Riemer

Vanden Berghe

Colruyt

Lowest Prices

Stéphanie Fagot and Anja Vonck

Growing and advancing

“With the Ghent and Waasland regions, we're organising a fast track”, Daphné Van den Steen says. “It consists of four sessions, taught by managers. As many as 36 enthusiastic employee-salespersons took the opportunity to advance their careers this year! At the end of the session, we wrote with special markers on glass what we take with us in our backpack. This created so much enthusiasm that we wanted to immortalise it in a photo! “

People & Organisation

Kelly Vanhecke

Retail Partners

Colruyt Group

Astrid Desmet and Luk Dillen

Supply Chain & Transport

Toon Vandesande

Symeta Hybrid

Wendy De Greef

Technics and Real Estate

Maya Stevens

Cru

Sandra Michiels

DATS 24

Eva De Vriese

Dreambaby

Katrien

Vander meiren

Dreamland

Patricia Eeckhout

OKay

Tom Pellis

Solucious

Isabelle Goossens

Do you have any nice pictures of yourself and your colleagues? Or are you the proud owner of pictures from days gone by? Send us a mail (gazet@colruytgroup.com) or a direct (GAZET).