Lotus Bakeries plans to pour investment into three production plants in Belgium, Thailand and the US to expand output for its Biscoff brand.
The Belgium-headquartered business is seeking to invest at least €500m ($576.3m) from this year through to 2030 in what it called “the largest investment programme ever for Biscoff”.
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In its first-half results statement today (7 August), Lotus said it will funnel the funds into its sites in Lembeke in Belgium, Mebane in North Carolina, and Chonburi in Thailand.
At Mebane, where the first production line began operating in 2019, the company had already commissioned an expansion to its spread and bottling manufacturing lines last year.
It now plans to use some of the newly allocated funds to add another production “hall” for Biscoff cookies and spreads, together with improved facilities for staff.
The new building is scheduled to be commissioned by the middle of 2028, with added output expected to come online the following year.
In Thailand, the first phase of the greenfield Lotus Biscoff plant in Chonburi was completed toward the end of the first quarter and is now running at full operation.
“With approximately 15% of total Lotus Biscoff revenue currently sold in Asia-Pacific, the new Chonburi facility provides a strong platform to support the continued growth of the brand in the region,” the company said.
A second production hall will now be added to Chonburi as part of the investment project, with the first line set to be in operation before the close of 2027.
Meanwhile, the company set plans in motion for another production hall at its Lembeke site in Belgium in May.
Lotus Bakeries said today that all necessary permits are in place and construction has started.
“This largest-ever investment programme will enable Lotus Bakeries to align with global demand evolution for Biscoff and to produce the full range of Biscoff hero products across three strategic regions – Europe and the Middle East, the Americas and Asia-Pacific – while maintaining strong cash flow generation,” it said.
The company added that the Lembeke plant is the “largest single-product cookie production site in Europe”.
In terms of the first-half results through June, revenue rose 14% year-on-year to almost €750m.
The company attributed the growth to “strong demand” across its Lotus Biscoff and Lotus Natural Foods ranges.
Negative currency movements trimmed sales growth by two percentage points, the Trek and Bear brands manufacturer added.
Underlying EBIT reached €131.04m, up 19.4% from a year earlier, while the EBITDA equivalent climbed 21% to €156.3m.
Net profit increased to €98.08m, up 23.5% compared to the same period last year.
Basic earnings per share rose 23.5% to €120.7.
For the Biscoff brand, both revenue and volume rose by at least 20%, Lotus said.
The company said the momentum was widespread, “across almost all countries and all continents”, with Europe delivering the biggest increase.
In the US, Biscoff remained the fastest-growing brand in both cookies and spreads, while also generating the group’s biggest absolute revenue gain for any single country.
