For the first time last year the turnover of Flemish biscuit manufacturer Lotus Bakeries exceeded a billion euros. The East Flemish biscuit company’s speculoos biscuit Biscoff is now in the top five most popular biscuits worldwide.
Total sales rose 21 per cent in 2023, to 1.062 billion euros. About half of that came from sales of Biscoff, the brand that includes speculoos biscuits, speculoos paste and speculoos ice cream.
The biscuit is in the top five of the world’s most popular biscuits for the first time this year. The top 5 is compiled by Euromonitor, based on global supermarket figures. Oreo biscuit features in first place, in second place it’s Chips Ahoy! Biscoff is in 5th place.
Lotus Bakeries CEO Jan Boone wants his speculoos biscuit eventually to make it into the Top 3. Although that will take some time, he admits. "Just to jump to place 4, we will have to double sales," he explains.
Lotus sells most of its speculoos biscuits in the US with the US market accounting for 25 per cent of Biscoff sales.
Five per cent of US households have a Lotus speculoos biscuit in their cupboard. "We are on the shelves of 80 per cent of all supermarkets in the US," says Boone.
All these caramelised biscuits are baked in Lembeke (East Flanders) and in a factory in the US. A 3rd factory should become operational in Thailand in 2026.
Dinosaur biscuits
The other half of the company’s turnover comes from “healthy snacks” and "local heroes": well-known brands in the home markets of Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Sweden. These include, for example, the Dinosaur biscuits.