Lotus Victim of own success: Speculooskoekje becomes too popular worldwide, question can only be boned in 2026 (Kaprijke)

Excellent annual figures: Check. A higher dividend for the shareholders: check. Rising sales figures, more net profit, nice prospects for sale: check, check, check. Lotus Bakeries announced annual figures that do the competition. Nevertheless, the champagne bottles remained in the fridge at the Kaprijk cookie baker. Despite the excellent annual figures, the share of the Lotus Bakeries tumbled by 6.3 percent. The Belgian company thus recorded its largest exhibition loss in five years. The reason: the Speculooskoekje has become so popular worldwide that Lotus cannot keep up with the question.

Biscuit + coffee = biscoff

To conquer the global market, the Speculoosje was renamed coffee for Biscoffa contraction of biscuit in coffee. With success, because the demand for the cookie rose by 21 percent last year. Lotus was able to keep up with that growth in 2024, but now that the cookie is responsible for more than half of the turnover of the entire company, production capacity is limping. For example, Lotus cannot meet the question this year. It is then Waiting for the opening of a new factory in Thailand, which is planned in the spring of 2026. It is not the first foreign location to open Lotus; Belgian speculoos is already rolling off the band in America.

Last year at Lotus Bakeries, the total turnover increased by 15.9 percent to 1.23 billion euros. Lotus Natural Foods, good for a quarter of sales, climbed by 16 percent. Lotus Local Heroes, mainly focused on the Belgian market and known for the Suzy waffles, rose by 5 percent. The net profit then rose by 19 percent to 156.3 million euros. A surprise was also in the sharp rise in the dividend. At the shareholders’ meeting in May, Lotus will propose to add 18 euros per share compared to the previous financial year, to arrive at a gross dividend of 76 euros.