Lotus Bakeries: "We would rather not see import duties"

6 February 2025

Lotus Bakeries does not expect US import duties to significantly impact its financial results, but the Belgian biscuit maker's CEO would prefer to avoid them. He said this alongside the company's release of strong annual results on Thursday.

Lotus Bakeries, headquartered in Lembeke, East Flanders, saw its revenue rise by 15.9 per cent last year to 1.23 billion euros, driven by record volume growth. Net profit increased by 19 per cent to 156.3 million euros. While strong growth was anticipated, the company surprised investors with a sharp dividend increase, proposing an 18 euro-per-share hike, bringing the total gross dividend to 76 euros per share.

Biscoff drives growth

Biscoff speculoos remains the company’s top performer, accounting for more than 50 per cent of total revenue. Sales surged by 20 per cent in 2023, keeping factories running at full capacity. For 2024, Lotus expects a more moderate volume increase of around 10 per cent, with a new factory in Thailand set to open in 2026.

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While the company has not disclosed how much additional capacity the new facility will provide, CEO Jan Boone remains optimistic. "A nice piece, but we have to wait and see what the efficiency will be like in the first few years," he said. He reaffirmed Lotus’s goal of growing Biscoff sales by at least 10 per cent annually in the coming years.

Lotus has set its sights on becoming one of the top three best-selling cookie brands worldwide. Currently ranked fifth, the company is gaining ground. "We are firmly in the top five and have grown stronger than numbers three and four," Boone noted. Mondelez leads the market with Oreo at number one and Chips Ahoy! at number two.

Managing trade tensions

Despite global trade uncertainties, Boone remains confident in Lotus’s international strategy. "We are happy that we have local factories for Biscoff. We can produce locally in the US and soon also in Asia. From Thailand, we can deliver there duty-free. That is an asset and a guarantee for if there are import tariffs for Asia."

The US is Biscoff’s largest market, and while Canada is becoming more important, it remains relatively small. "If a 10 per cent levy is imposed there, it would not have a significant impact on the group's results, but we would rather not see it," Boone said. The same applies to Latin America: "We would rather not see levies on Mexico, but that is not a big market for us either."

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