Jumbo to open "most sustainable supermarket in the Benelux"

On Wednesday 3 May Dutch food retailer Jumbo will open the most sustainably designed supermarket building in the Benelux. The store is built with ecological materials and uses energy saving technologies.

Green roof and solar panels

The new Jumbo supermarket is located in Goor, in the east of the Netherlands, and is run by entrepreneurs and brothers Tijn and Niek Leussink. It was built using sustainable building materials and FSC certified wood, sourced from sustainable forests. The store is heated by residual heat released from the refrigerated and freezer shelves, and where necessary, supplementary heating is provided by a heat pump.

The building has a green roof and is equipped with 360 solar panels. There is plenty of daylight and a special ventilation system ensures optimum air quality, tailored to the needs of customers and employees in the store. The area around the building is ecologically designed with an insect hotel, space for bats and nesting boxes for birds.
 

All these aspects combined have resulted in an overall BREEAM design score of 90.79%, which is the highest rating of ‘Outstanding’. BREEAM is a widely used assessment method for objectively determining the sustainability performance of buildings.

Circular design

Sustainability is also central to the interior design of the store. “We have, for example, made extensive use of materials that can be reused if the store is ever refurbished. This is what we call circular. For example, the LED lighting is made of recycled plastic,” says Tijn Leussink. “But also for partitions, floor components and parts of the climate control system, we chose materials that are recycled or can be easily and fully reused later. In this way, we give materials a second life and reduce waste.”
 

In the assortment, there is a lot of focus on local products and sustainable labels. Shoppers will find cleaning products made of orange peels that are collected separately in the Jumbo stores.

Calling card

The project is part of Jumbo’s sustainability plans: “As a family business we find it important to take the future into account. We do this by building sustainably where possible, such as at our national distribution centre in Nieuwegein and our new e-fulfilment centre for online orders in Bleiswijk”, says Douwe Snel, Director Franchise & Real Estate Jumbo.
 

“The new store in Goor is, thanks to the entrepreneurship of the Leussink brothers, a wonderful example of what is possible in our stores and is truly our calling card in the area of sustainability. We therefore hope that we will soon be able to implement elements from this shop in our other stores.”