Lotus Bakeries, the Belgium-based bakery group, said today (2 September) it would look to drive sales of its brands after losing a UK supply contract with United Biscuits.
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The cake-to-waffle maker is coming to the end of its contract to make Jaffa Cake Bars for United Biscuits arm McVitie’s after the UK group decided to bring production back in-house.
Secretary general Filip Standaert admitted the Jaffa Cake Bars deal was a “big” contract for Lotus, particularly for the UK market, but insisted the company had no plans to seek another third-party deal.
Instead, Standaert said, Lotus would look to focus on improving sales of its own products in the UK, particularly caramelised biscuits. “We will try to push our own products,” he told just-food.
Lotus’s sales in the UK and the US grew during the first half of the year, a period that saw the company increase half-year profits.
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By GlobalDataStandaert said, however, that Lotus’s net profit had been boosted by the sale of the Harry’s Benelux business and described operating profit as “stable”.
He refused to be drawn on whether Lotus saw profits improving during the second half of 2009.
“We have chosen not to give [forecasts] for 2009 in general. It is very difficult in view of the crisis to know how consumers will react,” Standaert explained.
