NIEUWPOORT, BELGIUM: Eating mussels is a popular tradition in Brussels, but it may surprise many to learn that none of the shellfish visitors are enjoying is locally sourced in Belgium.
That is, until now. A Belgian supermarket group has taken up the challenge of harvesting local mussels, which are already reaping rich rewards, with business booming.
Off the coast of Nieuwpoort, near the French border, a crane lifts ropes in shells onto a boat.
They are part of a 12-kilometer (seven-mile) network that the Colruyt chain established in 2023.
Such a sight has never been seen before in Belgium and Colruyt hopes it will grow, especially to challenge the dominance of Dutch mussels in the local market.
“We harvest a ton in about four hours, with four people. In the future, we would like to do three to four tons a day,” says Stijn Van Hoestenberghe as he takes the AFP team to the mussel farm he manages.
Colruyt expects to harvest 50 tons this year, up from six last year, and “maybe 200” in 2025, adds Van Hoestenberghe.
Van Hoestenberghe admits that it is not an easy job because of the strong sea currents, storms and heavy maritime traffic in the area.
Far from the wide and deep estuary of the river Scheldt, where the famous Zeeland mussel grows in the south of the Netherlands, which supplies a large part of the European market.
“The Dutch part of the delta is a gigantic protected zone, which makes it easier to establish farms on (mussels) than in the open sea,” explains Jerome Mallefet, a marine biologist at Belgium’s UCLouvain University.
Establishing more mussel farms off the Belgian coast – which Mallefet describes as a “highway for ships” – is more difficult due to offshore wind turbines and trawling activities, the expert adds.
Today, experts estimate that Belgium, which is one of the biggest consumers of mussels in Europe alongside Spain, France and Denmark, gets more than 90 percent of its mussels from Dutch farmers in Zeeland.
Despite the progress, Colruyt has bigger ambitions to gain a foothold in the market, as its supply covers at best one percent of Belgium’s needs, where around 20,000 tons of mussels are consumed annually.
“There is clearly room for growth,” the company says.
Colruyt’s “100% Belgian” mussels are currently supplied to four of its stores and around 15 restaurants in Belgium.
One of her arguments for developing the market is that the mussels are farmed “sustainably” because the ropes used are made from recycled fishing nets.
Mussels are a seasonal food. The best time to eat them, according to experts, is when the size and flesh have developed, usually from September to December.
On the historic Grand Place in Brussels, which is a major tourist destination in Belgium, the owner of a restaurant told AFP that he offers the very popular traditional dish of mussels and fries on his menu all year round.
Like his customers, his shells come from all over Europe.
“We have many people here who eat mussels… So from June to February we have Zeeland mussels and then we have Danish mussels or even German mussels, depending on the demand,” says Jean-Philippe Bosman, owner of Le Roy. Restaurant d’Espagne. “Having a local manufacturer is good, but they would have to supply us with the quantities we want on time … and that’s more difficult.”
