In the run up to Christmas 2018, ESM is proud to present a recap of some of our biggest articles of the year, exclusively for Premium website subscribers. At the start of the year, we ventured to Belgium to meet Jo Ghilain, business-unit manager of Colruyt Group’s ambitious Bio-Planet chain. This article first appeared in ESM Issue 1 2018.
Sometimes, being first makes all the difference. When Colruyt unveiled its first Bio-Planet outlet, in Kortrijk, south-west of Ghent, back in 2001, the world was perhaps not ready for such an ambitious concept: all products sold in the store are of organic origin, while all materials used in the stores’ construction are, similarly, as eco-friendly as possible.
Fast forward 17 years, however, and Bio-Planet now operates 29 stores across Belgium, with ambitious plans to grow this to 60 in the years to come. Organic has come of age, and Bio-Planet is well positioned to take advantage of this opportunity.
“We helped to make organic accessible in Belgium,” says Jo Ghilain, “but over the past few years the trend has been increasing, and every retailer now sells organic. That’s why we need to reinvent ourselves and differentiate our offering from what we had previously.”
In-Store Experience
Walking into Bio-Planet Uccle, the group’s first store in the Brussels-Capital Region (which opened in November 2016), you would be forgiven for thinking that you were in an old-school discounter. The shelves are basic, the decor is minimal, and merchandising is kept to a bare minimum.
Each store offers around 6,500 SKUs, although the Uccle store looks like it has room for far more than that. As Ghilain explains, the simple, uncluttered positioning is very much in keeping with the bio mindset: less, in this case, is definitely more.
“We need to make sure that we are providing a true bio experience,” he says. “If we were to grow too fast, we would probably run into sourcing problems, or have to go across the border to source fresh produce, for example. If a product has to travel a big distance to get here, with all the road miles involved in delivery, can it still be called organic?”
Given the simplicity of the offering, it’s easy to see the attraction of a concept like Bio-Planet. While Ghilain tells ESM “there are people who do their full shop here,” the majority of customers are using the store to supplement their regular supermarket trip (a regular Colruyt store, incidentally, is a short five-minute walk from the Uccle outlet). With this in mind, products such as olive oil, pasta, and particularly tea and coffee (the latter boasting the largest shelf space of any ambient category therein, and by far) are big sellers.
“We have three types of customers,” says Ghilain. “One is the convinced, dedicated shopper who only ever eats organic, another comes for the superior taste of the products, while a third type of consumer comes for health reasons – they want to eat better and live healthier lives. It’s this third type of consumer that is seeing the biggest growth in numbers.”
Private label, which is present in the Colruyt Boni Bio brand, accounts for “about 7% or 8%” of sales, with Ghilain hopeful that a specific Bio-Planet own-brand range will emerge in time. Despite this low own-brand penetration, in each category a good-better-best approach is present, offering consumers a range of options at multiple price points in the store.
Communicating Fresh
Also understandably popular are Bio-Planet’s fresh fruit and vegetables, all of which are organic and, where possible, locally sourced, and presented in a market-style display. The group has done its utmost to educate consumers on the seasonality of fresh produce by offering them 10% off items that are in season.
A striking thing about the fresh selection is the lack of signage, however. While other retailers, such as Lidl, use every opportunity to promote domestic produce, at Bio-Planet, it has simply come to be expected that all products are sourced locally and sustainably. Could the store be doing more to communicate this?
“Customers are happy with the offering, but there is one thing that they ask us, and that’s to speak up a little more,” says Ghilain. “Say who you are, say what your vision is. That’s something we are working hard on – to talk about our range of products, the quality of our products, and the origin of our products.”
As such, the group is looking to build ‘sustainable partnerships’ with suppliers. With buying done centrally, localising the offer has, until now, proved challenging. However, as Ghilain explains, local engagement is becoming a more important part of the group’s sourcing strategy, pointing to a recent campaign that saw locally produced butternut squash go on sale at the Uccle store, leading to sales that were three times higher than usual.
“There are local producers that can produce for one or two stores, but they can’t produce for 27 stores,” he says. “If we want to source products to serve all 27 stores, we have to find a bigger producer, and then it’s not local any more. In a way, Belgium is such a small country that you could say that if a product is sourced in Belgium, it is a local product.
“For us, being truly local means producing within 40 kilometres of the store and working with smaller companies,” he says.
Expansion Plans
In terms of expansion, the opening of a dedicated Bio-Planet warehouse in Lot, south-west of Brussels, in 2015 has acted as a springboard for furthering the growth of the brand.
While it took 15 years to reach a total of 20 stores (the 20th outlet opened in Braine-l’Alleud in 2016), Bio-Planet openings should be a more regular occurrence in the years to come, with the group eyeing approximately three openings per year.
As Ghilain explains, however, the parameters need to be right, in order for the group to consider opening a store – a difficult task in many city-centre locations.
“Of course, we are looking at Brussels, Ghent and Antwerp, and there is a possibility that a couple of Colruyt stores may evolve into Bio-Planet stores,” says Ghilain, “but it’s not easy to find a good city-centre location at an affordable price that meets all the criteria we need: sustainable architecture, around 650 square metres, parking spaces.
"Supplying stores becomes more difficult. We use big trucks to supply our stores because it is a more efficient, sustainable option, so we’re keen to open in more city-based locations, but the conditions need to be right.”
Digital Engagement
The growing importance of digital hasn’t gone unnoticed, with Bio-Planet recently investing in its online and mobile platforms in order to provide added-value supports to the brand’s positioning.
At present, its site, www.BioPlanet.be, is largely used to “inspire consumers”, Ghilain explains, but e-commerce is similarly becoming a key part of the group’s future strategy.
“We’re starting to offer online shopping,” he says, “with six of our stores offering Collect&Go services [shoppers can pick up their purchases in one of 80 locations around Belgium, including Colruyt stores].
“We are looking to extend that. If we can extend this out to ten or 12 stores, we will be able to offer more than 200 pickup locations. Ideally, we would like to offer it across the group, but that’s not for the next year or two – it’s a little bit more long-term.”
Close to 20 years after it first dipped its toe in the water, Bio-Planet is maintaining a cautious approach to expansion – again, very much in keeping with the organic mindset: good things take time to foster. With parent Colruyt upping its investment in the concept, it should be enough to keep competitors at arm’s length … at least for the moment.
“We will continue to do it our own way,” says Ghilain. “We understand we need to speak up a bit more and tell our future customers what we stand for, what we are doing, and why we are doing it. That’s a more sustainable course than rapid expansion.”
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
