Association of Belgian Horticultural Cooperatives

What Association of Belgian Horticultural Cooperatives does

VBT (Verbond van Belgische Tuinbouwcoöperaties), legally registered as Verbond van Belgische Tuinbouwcoöperaties (VBT) vzw, is a Belgian non-profit trade association (vereniging zonder winstoogmerk) founded on May 28, 1991 through the merger of VCTV (Association of Cooperative Horticultural Auctions) and FCTV (Federation of Cooperative Horticultural Auctions). It represents and defends the interests of Belgian producer cooperatives in the fruit and vegetable sector at both national and international levels, acting as a consultation and information-exchange platform for its members. Its members comprise four major Belgian horticultural cooperatives: BelOrta (Sint-Katelijne-Waver), Coöperatie Hoogstraten, Ingro (Roeselare), and REO Veiling (Roeselare).

VBT does not develop or sell commercial products or technology. Its core 'offering' is sector representation, policy advocacy, information dissemination, and limited domain-specific service provision for its four member cooperatives. The association promotes the 'Responsibly Fresh' sustainability initiative covering its member auctions. It is headquartered at Tiensevest 136, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium, and is governed by a board committee chaired by D. Van den Plas with two Vice-Chairs (M. Smets and D. Declercq) and approximately 15 additional board members, with day-to-day operations led by two General Secretaries, Tom Vandenkendelaere and Luc Vanoirbeek. Supporting staff includes a Senior Advisor (Ann De Craene), an Office Manager/Advisor Data Management (Dimitri Pierre), two Plant Protection Advisors (Emma Vankrunkelsven and Julie Van Oevelen), and an Energy Expert (Wannes Akkermans).

VBT's business model is that of a member-funded trade association rather than a commercial enterprise. It does not disclose revenue, does not have funding rounds, does not pursue acquisitions, and does not compete in any product market. In September 2010 it approved a reformulation of its mission and in early 2011 rebranded from the Association of Belgian Horticultural Auctions to its current name, reflecting a strategic pivot from auction-centric to cooperative-centric sector representation.

Name

Association of Belgian Horticultural Cooperatives

Legal name

Verbond van Belgische Tuinbouwcoöperaties (VBT) vzw

Website

https://vbt.eu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Leuven

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Core offering

VBT is a Belgian non-profit trade association (vzw) that represents and defends the interests of Belgian producer cooperatives in the fruit and vegetable sector at national and international levels. It functions as a consultation and exchange platform for its four member cooperatives, disseminates sector-relevant information, and acts as a service provider in specific domains such as plant protection, energy, and data management.

Product overview

VBT is a non-profit trade association (vzw/asbl) that represents and defends the interests of Belgian producer cooperatives in the fruit and vegetable sector, both nationally and internationally. It does not offer commercial software products or services, but rather serves as a platform for consultation and exchange among its member cooperatives, provides sector-relevant information, and may act as a service provider in specific domains. The association also promotes the 'Responsibly Fresh' sustainability initiative covering its member auctions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Responsibly Fresh: A sustainability initiative and brand associated with VBT member cooperatives, focusing on responsibly produced fruits and vegetables.

Named customers4 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Other organizations, federations and stakeholdersminorOthersVBT works in conjunction with other organizations, federations, or relevant stakeholders where necessary to advance the interests of its member cooperatives in the Belgian fruit and vegetable sector.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Regional players

• Deutscher Raiffeisenverband (DRV): German umbrella association for cooperatives, including agricultural and horticultural cooperatives. Comparable cooperative-federation function to VBT in a much larger national market.
• FNPF - Fédération Nationale des Producteurs de Fruits: National federation of French fruit producers. Closely comparable sub-sector representational mandate (fresh-produce producers) in a neighbouring country, useful as a regional peer for cross-border benchmarking.
• AGF Promotie Nederland: Dutch promotion body for fresh fruit and vegetables with a consumer-marketing and sustainability mission similar to VBT's Responsibly Fresh initiative. Comparable in sub-brand/program focus rather than direct political representation.
• Fedagrim: Belgian federation of agricultural and horticultural equipment suppliers and contractors. Adjacent Belgian sector association serving a different horticulture sub-segment; useful as a domestic peer for understanding the Belgian sector-organisational landscape.

Direct peers

• GroentenFruit Huis: Dutch umbrella association for the fruit and vegetable trade and processing sector. Closely comparable trade-body function to VBT in a neighbouring market, with overlapping members and a similar auction/cooperative heritage.
• Freshfel Europe: European Fresh Produce Association representing the fresh fruit and vegetables sector at EU level. Directly comparable to VBT in mission (interest representation, sector coordination) but operates one level up at the pan-European scale.
• EUCOFEL: European fruit and vegetable wholesale, import and export association. Comparable representational role for fresh-produce value-chain stakeholders at EU level, overlapping with VBT's mandate to represent members internationally.
• Boerenbond: Belgian farmers' union representing the agricultural and horticultural sector nationally. Operates in the same Belgian policy and member-representation arena as VBT, making it a direct national-level peer.
• ABS - Algemeen Boerensyndicaat: Belgian farmers' syndicate representing agricultural and horticultural producers nationally. Competes with VBT (and Boerenbond) for representational legitimacy in the Belgian farming sector.

Broad incumbents

• Copa-Cogeca: The united voice of European farmers and agricultural cooperatives. Directly comparable representational mandate to VBT, but at much greater scale and with a broader agricultural scope beyond just horticulture.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/share?text=Verbond%20van%20Belgische%20Tuinbouwco%C3%B6peraties%20%28VBT%29&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vbt.eu
• Facebookfacebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vbt.eu&t=Verbond%20van%20Belgische%20Tuinbouwco%C3%B6peraties%20%28VBT%29
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vbt.eu&title=Verbond%20van%20Belgische%20Tuinbouwco%C3%B6peraties%20%28VBT%29

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles25 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Association of Belgian Horticultural Cooperatives