Frequently Asked Questions

55% of the traded product is destined for export (France, the Netherlands, the US, Japan, …) and 45% for supermarkets and wholesale in Belgium.

Responsible handling of people, the planet, and the product is important in everything BelOrta undertakes. Through our comprehensive waste management, sustainable investments at our sites, and encouraging nutritional conservation, we care for our planet. BelOrta also looks out for people by paying attention to traffic safety and its involvement in the social economy. Our focus on sustainability is also reflected at the production level through our relentless attention to biodiversity, continuous quality improvement, and by forming a short supply chain as a cooperative.

We not only work sustainably ourselves, but also encourage our growers to operate sustainably. Together, we continue to work on making the fruit and vegetable supply chain more sustainable. Both BelOrta, our producers, and suppliers are committed to long-term sustainability goals.

Vegetables and fruit from BelOrta, which are “delicious from here”. Because they are grown here by our growers. “From here” is not only about the location of the fields or greenhouses where our vegetables and fruit are cultivated. If you live by the coast, you might interpret “from here” differently than if you live in the Kempen or the Eastern Cantons.

“Delicious from here” stands for:

Grown here

BelOrta is a cooperative of, for, and by nearly 1,000 growers who dedicate themselves every day with great love, passion, and knowledge to bring the tastiest vegetables and fruit to your table.

Most of our growers are located in Belgium, but we also have growers in the Netherlands. However, the distance to our various sites remains consistently limited. Belgian or Dutch: it remains close and therefore “from here”.

Checked & sold here

At our sites in Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Zellik, and Borgloon, all vegetables and fruit delivered are inspected by our product specialists. This guarantees excellent quality and fantastic taste. After inspection by our graders, our products are auctioned within 24 hours.

Short supply chain

Nothing beats fresh. That’s why we keep our chain as short as possible. The products delivered by the growers early in the morning are often auctioned the same morning. Shortly thereafter, they begin their journey to a store in your neighborhood.

This short distance (and time) between grower and store has a second advantage: we minimize transportation and storage. Small footprint, big on taste!

Caring for our planet

Healthy, quality, and delicious products, that’s what we commit to every day. So it’s logical that we also care about our environment and society. Sustainability is therefore at the core of our approach.

You can see this not only from our short supply chain but also in the orchards, fields, and greenhouses of our growers. They handle soil and water with care and strictly follow environmental regulations and local quality standards.

And so, you get every day the best that our fields have to offer on your plate, delicious from here.

The auction is managed by the producers. Those actively growing vegetables and fruit can become shareholders of the auction — with a limited contribution. From that moment on, the producer becomes a partner and can supply produce at the auction. Moreover: producers are even required to deliver their entire production to the auction, known as the delivery obligation. Every three years, active producers elect a Board of Directors composed of active horticulturists. They appoint a general manager and an executive team: this team appoints managers, clerks, and workers.

From the BelOrta sales hall, buyers from Monday to Saturday put the law of supply and demand into practice. Thanks to six computer-controlled auction clocks, the sales process is quick and efficient. Customers can also follow all clock movements and complete transactions via e-commerce or home purchase from their PC. Thanks to the Simultaneous Network, customers can bid on products that are simultaneously offered at other Belgian auctions.

The growers of BelOrta prepare their products themselves for the auction and deliver them as fresh as possible. In the afternoon or early morning, the growers deliver their products. They have personally inspected the products for shape, quality, weight, and size. Each crate bears a sticker with the quality code, allowing the product to be identified on any pallet. The quality code corresponds to a specific uniform quality block. BelOrta's inspectors check the products for freshness, food safety, traceability, packaging, sorting, etc., through sampling.

Although the products do not remain long on the auction, BelOrta stores them under ideal conditions: temperature and humidity are adjusted to the various products. The product stays less than a day in the cold storage. It is sold while still in the cooling room. The storage conditions are perfect, with particular attention to hygiene, food safety, and traceability.

All our products meet strict quality labels where quality is an important component. For fruit, this is Eburon; for vegetables, Flandria. Furthermore, all our products comply with the GlobalGAP and Vegaplan standards. These not only ensure food safety but also environmental responsibility. Their compliance is externally audited at the production companies.

Not at all. At an art auction, the auction proceeds by way of bidding; at a vegetable and fruit auction, the sale takes place by way of declining price. Buyers can follow the price evolution on the light strip with 100 flashing lights. The light strip starts from a higher opening bid and goes down to a lower price. The buyer who presses their button first completes the transaction.

That's possible. The producer receives the average clock price of the products and the qualities he/she deliver at the auction. However, the price is determined by supply and demand. That is why products score very high on some days, but on other days very low, even below cost price.

The auction clock always displays the full daily offering. However, when there is a large selection, some lots may remain unsold and the clock "keeps spinning." Fresh products are never reoffered the next day. Unsold items are donated free of charge to food banks and other fourth-world organizations.

Our sponsorship policy only allows supporting initiatives from employees or active BelOrta producers. They are entitled to 5 boxes of product sponsorship per year. Do you belong to this group? Be sure to get in touch.

No. The buyers' benches at the auction are occupied by the buyers from exporters, supermarket chains, wholesalers, and retailers. They are the middlemen who bring the vegetables and fruit to the consumer. Therefore, you cannot purchase directly.

No. A wholesale market brings together a large number of traders in fruits and vegetables. These traders purchase Belgian products at the auction. Therefore, it is the middlemen who are present at this market. Retailers, horeca operators, or even private individuals can buy products from these middlemen and find a large number of suppliers close to each other.