Market Overview

As part of the Benelux region, Belgium is considered one of the key trading hubs to the European Union. Especially after Brexit and with the global shipping crisis and reduced port capacities, the importance of the EU’s second largest container port in Antwerp has increased massively. However, with an annual GDP of close to US$600 billion and 11.7 million potential consumers, the market is also an interesting direct target for American traders.

The U.S. is the fifth largest exporter to Belgium and the number one non-EU trading partner. Total agricultural exports to Belgium accounted for US$959.79 million in 2022, which equals a compound average growth of 2.5%. The top products shipped to the market were tree nuts, with a value of US$254.31 million, followed by forest products, milled grains, tobacco, and fish or seafood. This represents an increase compared to 2020, when such goods shipped directly to Belgium from the United States were valued at US$744 million. While consumption in the country has increased, the majority of imports were transshipped to other EU markets. Belgium harbors, especially Antwerp, benefitted from Brexit and shifting trade flows resulted in increased landings from overseas suppliers. The constellation of a strong domestic consumption market and high average buying power and the well-established and still growing trade network across the continent make Belgium an attractive target market for American producers.

Retail Sector

The average annual revenue of the Belgian food retail sector amounts to US$32 billion. According to Nielsen, increase of the turnover is due to the good health of the Belgian economy and the increasing inflation rate (2.13 percent). In terms of market share, large supermarkets represent 49.5 percent of annual revenue of the Belgian food retail sector, medium-sized supermarkets represent 30.4 percent, small retailers/convenience stores represent 4.7 percent, and hard discounters represent 15.4 percent.

The number of medium-sized and neighborhood supermarkets has been growing over the years to answer the need of Belgian consumers to have grocery stores closer to their homes. While the number of hard discount stores increased sharply over the beginning of 2000, their growth rate has slowed down since 2010. Discount supermarkets are not as popular in Belgium as in other EU countries as Belgians see higher prices as indicative of quality.

The Belgian retail market is consolidated. Eight different international groups dominate the Belgian retail – market – Ahold Delhaize Group, Carrefour Group, Colruyt Group, Louis Delhaize Group, Lidl, Aldi, Intermarché, MetroGroup – and represent 92.1 percent of the market share.

Top product prospects include: beef, food preparations, wine, mixed nuts, prepared foods, dog and cat food, and non-alcoholic beverages.

Food Service Sector

A large contributor to the foodservice market is the approximately 58,000 hotel-restaurant-café (HORECA) establishments. If other foodservice outlets locations/activities are included (e.g., food trucks, etc.), the total number of outlets is nearly 80,000. In Belgium, there are 4.4 HORECA businesses for every 1,000 inhabitants, compared to the value of 3.3 and 2.8, respectively in the Netherlands and Germany.

Top product prospects include: beef, food preparations, wine, nuts, and sweet potatoes.

Food Processing Sector

Belgium’s food process industry employees 91,000 employees (with another 141,000 indirect employees) and generates a turnover of US$64.7 billion. Most of this profit (US$30.44 billion) is from exports, which are mainly sent to neighboring EU countries. The most valued export products were beer and chocolate, but dairy products as well as frozen vegetables were also very popular.

Despite the economic growth, the Belgium food sector is facing additional financial hurdles compared to other Member States in the EU. The most challenging issues are the substantial increases in the costs of both labor and energy over the last couple of years, as electricity is about 45 percent more expensive than in other Member States.

Top product prospects include: pistachios, nut mixes, almonds, walnuts, sweet potatoes, and ingredients that go into Belgium’s exported products such as beer, chocolate, dairy products, and frozen vegetables.