Organic supermarkets in Belgium: Biocap has three stores

The specialist wholefood trade in Belgium lags behind countries like Germany and France. Large-scale specialist organic stores (over 200 m²) and organic supermarkets (over 400 m²) are far from being the standard in organic marketing. Three of the nearly two dozen Belgian organic supermarkets operate under the title Biocap. The owners are two courageous women – Martine Baré and Annette Dubois – who launched their first large-scale store in 2001. Now, they are managing three organic supermarkets with 400 m² or more of retail space: two in the suburbs of Namur (Bouge and Erpent) to the south-east of Brussels and one in Charleroi. With 210,000 inhabitants, Charleroi - 50 km from Brussels – is the biggest city in French-speaking Wallonia.

Picture: Biocap supermarket in the south of Namur

“15 years ago, it was clear to me that I should open a spacious and modern store so that, in keeping with modern developments, I could supply customers with organic goods.” This was and still is the credo of Martine Baré, who in 2000 talked about it with an acquaintance from the same village. At the time, Annette Dubois was running a 120 m² organic shop. “We got to know each other better and took the decision to launch a bigger and more professional store,” Baré explains. After a thorough search they found suitable premises (300 m²) in Bouge, two kilometres to the east of the picturesque old part of Namur. The outcome was that in 2001 they created their first joint business venture in Namur (107,000 inhabitants) with the launch of a new specialist organic store.

Picture: Martine Baré, the founder of Biocap, with a sack of potatoes from her brother´s farm

In 2006, this was followed by a store in Charleroi, 30 km to the west of Namur. Seven years later, in January 2013, they opened their biggest store – 500 m² - in Erpent. “In 2014 we registered very good growth of 25 %, whereas the older stores produced low but nevertheless satisfactory results - 6 % growth in Bouge and 13 % in Charleroi),” says a delighted Martine Baré. There has been a significant rise in the number of employees over the years, and today 43 people work in the stores and administration. In 2012, a brand new shopping centre was built in Erpent on the main road from Namur to the south. The two Biocap entrepreneurs participated in this venture and bought premises for their store.

Picture: The employees at Biocap Erpent

Loyalty card for regular customers

Biocap rewards its regular customers with a loyalty card with a 5 % rebate (except in the case of fresh foods).  Annette Dubois says they have around 6,000 card holders who shop regularly in their stores. An important issue for the owners is sourcing as many products as possible in Belgium and they point out that this applies to about a third of all goods. A special difficulty in this country, where three languages are spoken: local products have to be labelled in Flemish, that is spoken in the north, and in French, that is spoken from Brussels southwards. The German-speaking minority in the east – a mere 0.7 % of the population - doesn’t have to be given special consideration. Belgium has a total population of 11.2 million. Nearly 60 % are Flemish and around 40 % are Walloons.

Picture: Juices with double labelling

The Biocap stores are supplied mainly by the Belgian wholefood wholesaler Biofresh and the French wholesaler Bonneterre. In the 7,000 article product assortment you find the well known German and French brands ranging from Andechser, Beutelsbacher, Rapunzel and ÖMA to Zwergenwiese. There are many well known French brands sold by Biocap.
Food accounts for 73 % of turnover and non-food contributes an unusually high 27 %. In the non-food category you find natural cosmetics, detergents and cleaners, decorative products, toys and household utensils that are all arranged in separate departments in the store. Fresh food accounts for 30 % of turnover. When you enter the store, on the left-hand side you see three big counters (12 metres long) – one is for fresh meat and sausage, then comes cheese and finally there are salads and prepared foods.

Picture: Wide range of cleaners, toothpaste and household goods

Martine Baré is very pleased to source potatoes and a several kinds of vegetable from the organic farm run by her brother 25 km to the south-west of Namur. This keeps her in direct contact with agriculture, something she would not like to forego. Cheese, dairy products, vegetables and bread also come from a 25 km radius round each of the shops. They are supplied by Interbio and Ecodis, the regional wholefood wholesaler in southern Belgium. Since 1996, deliveries have been made under the name of David Grodent, with his wife Véronique becoming involved in 2005. Around 700 predominantly fresh products are sourced direct from Wallonian organic farmers and transported the short distance to the wholefood trade.
Thanks to the stable market, Baré and Dubois are anticipating further growth of five to ten percent a year. They are expecting to add one or two more organic supermarkets to their tally soon.

Picture: very well stocked meat and sausage counter.

All photos by Kai Kreuzer

More Information on the website