Compass Group Belgium offers a sustainable soft drink alternative through Dripl.

Compass Group Belgium and the Ghent-based start-up Dripl are joining forces to step up the fight against disposable packaging. Compass Group, the Belgian arm of the world's largest food service company, will install Dripl packaging-free drink dispensers at its customers' premises. Thanks to a few initial devices, the two companies together have already managed to avoid over 30,000 packages.

Thanks to the partnership, Compass Group Belgium can offer an answer to a question that more and more customers are asking. "Sustainability is no longer optional," says Bart Matthijs, CEO of Compass Group Belgium. "We notice that companies are increasingly knocking on our door and asking for more sustainable and healthier alternatives to traditional soft drinks." And this is exactly what Dripl has made its mission.

For Dripl, this partnership in turn means a giant leap forward to revolutionise the soft drinks industry. The start-up of Colin Deblonde and Lucas Moreau has been active since 2019 and, with its 'Refill Points' (read: dispensers where you can fill up with healthy soft drinks without added sugars in a refillable drink can), wants to cut back considerably on the waste mountain of 1.3 billion packages that the classic soft drinks industry creates every day. "Our goal is to save 10 million disposable containers by the end of 2023 and be active across Europe," states Dripl co-founder Deblonde. "It is thanks to big players like Compass that we can make the most impact in the short term. The realisation that things can be done differently has really permeated the business world and we applaud that very much of course."

After all, as a major international player in catering, Compass Group has the scale and opportunity to encourage companies worldwide to make a positive impact on people and planet. Today, in the workplace, you still too often come across traditional drinks machines or refrigerators full of bottles and cans. There are no sustainable alternatives. So, with the partnership with Dripl, Compass Group Belgium can now offer a real solution to tackle the number of wasteful disposable packaging items in Belgian companies.

Listen now to our podcast episode with Dripl: