Belgian biscuit bakery Lotus aims to enter the top three of the world’s biggest biscuit brands with its Biscoff speculoos. The company is well on its way, with record sales and growth of more than 20 % last year.
Global top three
Lotus managed to raise its sales by 21 % last year, to 1.063 billion euros – the very first time the biscuit producer exceeded the billion euro mark. The growth is not only due to price increases: volumes grew by almost 10 %. Growth was mainly organic, just 1 % can be attributed to the acquisition of Peter’s Yard.
The Biscoff brand accounted for 54 % of all sales, while the “natural foods” division (Nakd and Trek, but also the new Peter’s Yard) represented almost a quarter of sales. “Local heroes” such as Peijnenburg, Dinosaurus biscuits and Suzy waffles grew 15 % to reach a 22 % sales share.
Biscoff itself is now in the top five of the world’s biggest biscuit brands, but aspires to be in the top three in the longer term. Additional investments in production should help to achieve this: besides the factory in Lembeke, Belgium, there are also production sites in Mebane, North Carolina, and Chonburi, Thailand. Recurring gross sales rose – in line with turnover – by 22 % to 208 million euros.
