EcoVadis Bronze on our first attempt: Viroux’s success story
Viroux, a Belgian family business specializing in school supplies and educational materials since 1988, wanted to validate its CSR efforts with a recognized certification. ABV Environment structured the application. The result: a bronze EcoVadis medal, awarded on the very first attempt.
Viroux: Belgian school supply distributor, committed for over 35 years
Based in Auvelais (Sambreville, Namur province), Viroux has been distributing school supplies, educational materials, and arts and crafts products since 1988. Its primary clientele consists of schools (from kindergarten through the end of primary school), educational institutions, daycare centers, and recreation centers. As a family business, Viroux has always integrated a strong sense of sustainability into its daily operations, long before CSR became a commercial or regulatory imperative.
The context: CSR in practice, but not yet certified
Like many family-owned SMEs, Viroux was already practicing a form of environmental and social responsibility without having formalized it or submitted it to external assessment. The trigger: the need to bid on public contracts that include a CSR criterion in their scoring. Viroux's clientele, primarily from the education sector, is attentive to the sustainability commitments of its suppliers, even in the face of real budget constraints. Obtaining a recognized certification allowed the company to both expand its access to public tenders and concretely showcase practices already embedded in the business.
The ABV approach: preparing the EcoVadis application without burdening the organization
ABV Environment supports companies through their EcoVadis certification process. This international CSR assessment platform analyzes organizational practices across four areas: environment, labor and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement. The bronze medal rewards companies that reach a significant CSR performance threshold during their assessment.
For Viroux, the support focused on structuring and documenting existing practices, ensuring the consistency of available evidence, and preparing the complete application. The primary goal: to accurately reflect the reality of the company without excessive formality, building on what was already in place. The bronze medal, obtained on the first attempt, confirms that the approach was well-founded and the support effective.
What Viroux has to say: three questions, three answers
What was your goal before reaching out to ABV?
"Our goal was to obtain external validation for an internal process within the family-run Viroux business, which is naturally CSR-oriented, without it becoming too formal. The fact that we earned the bronze EcoVadis label on our first attempt speaks for itself. Knowing ABV's professionalism, our choice was a natural one. And we haven't regretted it."
What has this support brought you in practical terms?
"To be very specific: the ability to bid on certain public contracts and have this qualitative criterion included in the overall scoring. Our education-sector clients are very sensitive to this aspect, even without ignoring the inevitable budget constraints of today. But another benefit was internal, as it made us more aware of certain areas for improvement and reflection."
In one or two sentences, how would you describe your experience with our teams?
"We were entirely satisfied with the team at ABV's ability to simplify and guide us through the process. We were even surprised by how 'relatively' light the process was in the end. That says it all..."
What this changes for you
The EcoVadis process is not just for large industrial groups. For an SME like Viroux, it produces concrete results on three levels. First, commercially: more and more public tenders include a CSR criterion in their scoring, and without a recognized certification, some markets become inaccessible. Second, in terms of credibility: an EcoVadis medal speaks to your clients and decision-makers much more effectively than a simple statement of commitment. Finally, internally: the assessment process identifies concrete areas for improvement, even in organizations where a CSR culture is already real and deeply rooted.
ABV Environment supports SMEs, mid-sized companies, and institutional players in their EcoVadis certification process and their broader sustainability strategy. The goal: to transform a lived CSR approach into one that is documented, recognized, and valuable.
Is your organization ready for EcoVadis certification? Contact ABV Environment to assess your current standing and prepare your application, without adding to your team's workload.
