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Water taps at Colruyt Group
In early 2022, Colruyt Group announced with a press release that would install a Robi water tap for staff in all Colruyt, Bio-Planet and Okay stores. In this way, the largest Belgian retailer offers healthy, still and sparkling drinking water to thousands of (store) employees in the most sustainable way. One year later, we started listening to the experiences of the staff at the Colruyt in Kortrijk. We only heard positive reactions there.
The Colruyt store in Kortrijk is located in a lively student neighborhood, near the station. Even though it is still early in the morning on a weekday, it is already very busy. We have agreed with the first seller Cinthy Verfaille. After a short tour of the store, she takes us to the staff room for a chat over a fresh glass of water.
About a year ago, the store in Kortrijk was one of four pilot projects for a water tap. And they would love to see them coming, Cinthy emphasizes. Watch the video here or read the full interview below.
Cinthy talks enthusiastically about the motivated team in Colruyt Kortrijk. “We have a large staff team here, with around 50 permanent employees, 10 butchers and another 30 working students. When we heard that we were going to be a test branch for the water tap, we were very happy. After all, we are a 'warm' store: due to the structure of the building, temperatures can seriously rise here in the summer. And when it's warm, employees naturally need extra refreshment.”
Before the arrival of the water tap, this was quite a hassle. Cinthy: “Then we had to unsubscribe and bring down large bottles of water from the store ourselves. That was always quite a drag and caused a lot of plastic waste. So that had to change. The first step was for all Colruyt employees in Belgium to receive a personalized and reusable water bottle.”
“And shortly afterwards, a Robi water tap was installed here in the staff room. He was immediately very successful. Everyone was immediately involved in the story. The employees walk in and out here all day long to fill their bottles and take them to the workplace.”
“We even have a special rack in transit where everyone can hang their bottles. And colleagues can also take their bottles with them at the cash registers. I myself walk in the workplace almost constantly and it is very nice that you always have water at hand. And you also notice that as a result, more water is being drunk in general.”
“For Colruyt, it is of course a significant saving. Both in the purchase of bottled water and in terms of plastic waste. The evaluation after the test period here in Kortrijk was therefore as simple as it was positive: we can recommend the water fountain to everyone. The device is very easy to maintain and use. You have 3 types of settings: chilled still water, room temperature still water and sparkling water.”
“And all colleagues here can also confirm that the water also tastes very good. The only comment I've already received is: why wasn't that water tap here for a long time? '
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