Support local farmers: We give priority to local producers. Our target is to source at least 80% of our fresh produce from Belgium. If a product is out of season or not grown locally, we source it from the closest possible location.
Support local shops: Our partner shops are all independent, and we are proud to support small local shops by giving them the opportunity to reach a wider customer base.
Promote sustainable agriculture: 100% of our fruits & vegetables are sourced in certified organic farms. We also have a wide range of dairy, meat, bread and other certified organic produces. Many of our products are biodynamic, which is an holistic approach to agriculture. We are a certified organic retailer (Certisys BE-BIO-01), and are big advocates of organic and sustainable agriculture.
Eat the seasons: We believe the best fresh produce is seasonal, and we follow the seasons for our fruit & veg boxes. The variety is surprisingly wide, and we sell over 100 types of locally sourced vegetables through the year.
Fresh & high quality food: We pick, pack and deliver our fruits & vegetables on a daily basis to make sure they are as fresh as possible. We have a strong logistics operation to maintain the cold chain all the way to your door.
Know the provenance: We give as much information as possible about the food we sell. We carefully curate the product range to make sure the producers and production methods are according to our philosophy.
Avoid food waste: Unlike a conventional shop, we know in advance what we will sell. So we buy every day only what we need, in cooperation with our local suppliers. This not only ensures the freshest produce for our customers, but also reduces our food waste to almost zero.
Some of our products come directly from producers, others are supplied by cooperatives and wholesalers specialised in organic food. Below are a selection of some Cirkle suppliers.
The story of Les Tartes de Françoise begins in 1994 in a small Brussels kitchen with a cook called ... Francoise. She loves all food that is fresh, natural and simple. She prepares delicious pies, which amaze his friends and the local restaurants. 'These pies are so good, everyone should be able to taste them', they all said. No sooner said than done, the first workshop of Les Tartes de Françoise opened its doors in Ixelles. It is not a normal patisserie. You enter directly into the workshop where the pies are prepared. Simple and delicious homemade pies , made with great fresh ingredients.
Julien Hazard is one of the few fromager-affineur in Belgium. His motto? Taste first! Julien carefully selects his cheeses at the Rungis market in Paris. Homemade cheeses, raw milk cheeses, farm cheeses ... which he patiently ages in the cellars of his store in Uccle, until the taste and texture are just right.
Agadir is a family owned fish shop located next to the European parliament in Brussels. The shop was founded in 1970 and given the quality of the products and service, it became a reference among Brussels’ fish connoisseurs. All the products of Agadir are fresh from the day and carefully selected in the Rungis market of Paris
Trained as a biologist, Griet Maes was inspired by the passion of her father, a breeder of hens. At the end of her studies, she decided to take over the family farm and converted it to organic. This was way back in the early '90s, when organic agriculture was still a marginal practice. By combining the knowledge acquired during her studies and the skills inherited by her father, she developed a farming model which is the antitheses to industrial egg production methods. Eggs of the Bolderhof farm stand out by their flavor but also by their size. The chickens are raised outdoors and are fed exclusively with organic grains.
Jan Duijndam raises dairy cows near Delfgauw, between Rotterdam and The Hague. He is a true nature lover, so he dedicates 10% of his land to nature reserves that create a wide biodiversity. His milk farm is certified organic, but Jan goes even further by practising biodynamic farming, an agricultural approach to that combines respect for the environment, soil, animals and ... people. This approach enables him to produce high quality fresh dairy products with a unique taste. All the farmers who supply milk to Zuiver Zuivel practice biodynamic agriculture.
Kurt Sannen raises organic cows and sheep in Molenstede, near Diest. He was bioengineer before settling as a farmer in 2001. Kempish cows and Ardennes sheep are the breeds raised by Kurt. They are perfectly adapted to the boggy environment of the Dassenaarde natural reserve, in which 90% of Kurt’s land is included. Kurt loves all his animals, including his horses, donkeys, chickens dogs and (numerous) cats. The Ardennes sheep, wild and agressive by nature, are often a little bit too lively for Kurt. Fortunately, Line, Copain and Fly, the sheepdogs of the farm, help Kurt to manage his 80 strong flock of sheep.
When Floor and Christian De Heer converted their pig farm to organic ways in 1998, they had to reduce the size of their herd to around sixty pigs. This meant some strangle looks from the neighbouring people of Kamerik, the Dutch village where their farm is located. But Floor and Christian have never regretted their decision to change to organic farming. One reason is that they are more independent now, as all the food for their pigs are grown on their own land, without any expensive chemical pesticides or fertilizers. The pigs spend the night indoors on straw, then roam freely outside during the day. 100% organic meat reared with respect for the animals and land.
Le Bon pain was created in 1976 by the father of Joao Martins, who took over the family business in 1986. Their bread is made entirely with organic ingredients. The water used in the manufacture is purified and filtered and the breads are baked in a wood oven. Le Bon Pain’s breads are made from various cereals (wheat, spelt, rye). Some breads are raised with yeast but most use a sourdough fermentation. A savoir-faire and a quality which is very hard to find, especially in Brussels..
Marleen Masson and Jean-Pierre Mouton have been growing vegetables since 1987. Their farm is located in Alveringem, a small town in West Flanders. They are pioneers of organic farming in their area. Het Zilverleen farm produces all sorts of vegetables, including: broccoli, leeks, celeriac, carrots, potatoes, pumpkin ...
The Bezegaard farm is located between Gent and Lille. They are specialised in the culture of summer fruits and especially berries. During the harvesting season, Bezegaard opens its fields to people wishing to pick their own fruit. The farm also makes jams and compotes from the fruit.
De Lochting is a social enterprise established since 1992 in Izegem. Its mission is both environmental and social. Environmental because its production is exclusively organic. Social, because they employ nearly 140 people marginalised from the regular job market. Today, De Lochting has 2 vegetable fields, one in Izegem and one in Roselaere. They supply lots of different fruits and vegetables: leeks, turnips, Jerusalem artichokes, beetroots and curly kale.
Lili Bulk prepare a large range of delicious dry food products of quality origin, 100% organic, 100% bulk packed in returnable and refundable containers of different sizes. Lili Bulk helps you to “zero waste” with an easy, practical and ecological solution of reusable jars washed and filled by them.
The Oxfam Worldshops' aim is to make trade as direct and fair with the trading partners as possible. Usually, this means a producer in a developing country and consumers in industrialized countries. The worldshops' target is to pay the producers a fair price that guarantees subsistence and positive social development. They often cut out any intermediaries in the import chain.
Cirkle is constantly searching for new talents, tastes hunters and delicacies makers. You are a farmer, an craft(wo)man or a taste hunter? You already work with us and wish to present your activity on this page?
