- Business
- Lotus Bakeries NV engages in the production and sale of indulgent and natural snack products worldwide. Founded in 1932 and headquartered in Lembeke, Kaprijke, Belgium, the company operates through three strategic pillars: Lotus Biscoff, featuring caramelized speculoos biscuits, spreads, and co-branded products; Lotus Natural Foods, offering better-for-you snacks such as fruit-based products under BEAR, protein and energy bars under nākd and TREK, baby snacks under Kiddylicious, and artisan crackers under Peter’s Yard; and Lotus Local Heroes, including gingerbread under Peijnenburg and Snelle Jelle, pepparkakor biscuits under Annas, waffles and galettes, cake specialties like Cake Donut and Liège Waffles, and dinosaur-shaped biscuits under Dinosaurus. Lotus Bakeries maintains production facilities in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, South Africa, and the United States, with a new greenfield Biscoff plant under construction in Thailand's Chonburi region, slated for completion in the second quarter of 2026; it conducts sales through 23 owned organizations across Europe, America, Asia, and Australia, plus commercial partners in about 50 countries. In 2024, the company achieved revenue of EUR 1,232 million, up 16% primarily from volume growth, with Lotus Biscoff surpassing EUR 600 million; it entered a strategic partnership with Mondelēz International in June 2024 to license Biscoff cookies in India and develop co-branded chocolate products, including Cadbury tablets launching in the UK by March 2025 and Milka tablets in Europe thereafter, while expanding the alliance into ice cream with Froneri in March 2025; Lotus Bakeries invested over EUR 120 million in capacity expansions, refinanced EUR 225 million in long-term debt with maturities up to 2033, and proposed a dividend increase to EUR 76 per share.