Belgian supermarket chain Colruyt is testing if offering a specific range for hospitality businesses can help it expand further into the B2B market. The range is sourced from Colruyt’s food service specialist, Solucious.
Adapting to changing consumer behaviour
In two stores, in Bruges and Aalst, customers can now find an additional range of 200 products for the hospitality industry – such as pre-cut vegetables in larger packages, specific frozen products and gloves. Hospitality clients can also order customised quantities and have the meat packaged using a vacuum machine, for instance. Despite being aimed at hospitality specialists, these products are also available to individual customers.
The test is part of Colruyt’s ambition to grow further in the B2B sector. The company has already opened four Colruyt Professionals stores specifically for professional clients, but also sees opportunities to serve professional customers additionally in the ‘regular’ Colruyt stores.
“Solucious currently delivers products to more than 25,000 customers, including a significant number of customers in the hospitality industry. By offering our range in Colruyt stores, we can serve our customers even better”, Solucious’ Yves Vandenbrande explains. “We observe that consumer behaviour is changing: customers switch more frequently between cooking at home, dining out, takeaway meals and consuming on-the-go. As a Belgian retailer, we want to respond to these evolving customer needs. On one hand, by focusing on on-the-go and convenience for customers, and on the other hand, by fully committing to the hospitality sector.”
