Biscoff maker now a $15.5 billion giant as viral biscuit takes over the world
Will Standring
Updated ,first published
Rising sales of Biscoff cookies worldwide are helping a 94-year-old Belgian food company continue its outstanding performance on the stock market for a decade.
Lotus Bakeries NV shares have risen 49 percent since the beginning of the year, bringing their gains over the past decade to almost 600 percent. This comes at a time when food and staple food supplies are greatly strained around the world. The company’s market value increased to approximately 9.4 billion euros ($15.5 billion)
The key to the stock’s rise has been Biscoff’s growth. According to the company’s latest annual report, caramelized biscuits are currently in the top five in the world in terms of sales. This year, a “Japanese cheesecake” trend featuring Lotus biscuits went viral on TikTok.
“You can compare this to what Oreo was like when it was growing massively,” Ignacio Canals Polo, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, said in an interview. “People seem to like everywhere they go. That’s the most important part to understand about Lotus Bakeries.”
Founded in 1932, Lotus Bakeries is increasingly expanding the worldwide presence of its flagship Biscoff biscuit, including a partnership with US carrier Delta. Recently, the company opened a factory in Thailand to reach Asian markets and has expanded into areas such as spreads, ice cream and chocolate.
The shift to new products and markets has caused revenues to rise rapidly. Sales rose an average of 17 percent each year between 2014 and 2024 as the brand’s popularity grew worldwide, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
“Shareholders have been generously rewarded through a combination of dividends and share buybacks,” said Ketan Patel, fund manager at Whitefriars, the family office that owns Lotus shares, noting that dividends have increased annually for more than two decades.
Lotus Bakeries did not respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment.
Analysts appear generally optimistic or neutral on the stock, but the average price target suggests no room for upside over the next 12 months.
It trades at a significant premium to its peers. It’s a multiple of about 46 times expected earnings, more than double the MSCI World Food, Beverage and Tobacco Index, and 20 percent more expensive than its average valuation over the past decade.
BNP Paribas’ Mikheil Omanadze is the only analyst followed by Bloomberg with a sell-equivalent rating, and he has been bearish on the stock for more than two years, thinking the valuation premium is excessive. He thinks potential challenges from the growing popularity of GLP-1 weight loss drugs and “ultra-processed food narratives” could push consumers away from sweet snacks, putting pressure on valuations.
The company has made moves to protect itself from disruption from health-conscious consumers through early merger and acquisition action. In 2015, as part of its natural foods division, it acquired the Bear, Trek and Nakd brands, which have become big names in the healthy snacking space. This now accounts for 25 percent of its revenue, according to its most recent annual report.
“The challenge for the business will be how do we sustain double-digit growth in a global market that is highly competitive and has low barriers to entry,” Whitefriars’ Patel said. “One wrong step in products, marketing, distribution, technology and so on can derail the growth story.”
Bloomberg, wires
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