Lotus Bakeries’s U.S. Success Story
How this SMB from Belgium in the Food Production industry made it in the U.S.A
Country Of Origin Belgium
U.S. HQ. Alamance County, North Carolina
Industry Food Production
Year Founded 1932
Number Of Employees Over 1000
Annual revenue Over $340M
About Lotus Bakeries
Lotus Bakeries is the leading baker of snacks in Belgium and is one of the industry leaders in Europe. The company has Lotus Biscoff, Lotus Dinosaurus, Lotus Suzy, Nākd, TREK, BEAR, Urban Fruit Peijnenburg, Snelle Jelle, and Annas as the major brands. The Lotus Bakeries is a dynamic and internationally oriented company with production facilities their headquarters in Belgium. Notably, the company has production facilities in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and Sweden. They also have 18 sales organizations across America and Asia. The company currently works with commercial partners in approximately forty countries worldwide.
With the company’s Peijnenburg and Snelle Jelle brands, the company is a market leader of gingerbread in the Netherlands. On the other hand, Nākd, TREK, BEAR, and Urban Fruit provide a decent amount of competition. These brands make snacks from all natural, unprocessed ingredients, and with no added sugar. The company shares are listed on Euronext Brussels.
The US Expansion
It is astounding that the company has just set eyes on the US market even after over 80 years of existence. In November 2016, the company announced that they would open its first US manufacturing operation in Alamance County, North Carolina. The company aims to popularize their Biscoff cookies that are mainly served by airlines. The plant will cost over $50 million and is anticipated to employ over 60 people by December 2020.
Greensboro-based Samet Corporation at the North Carolina Industrial Center in Mebane will build the plant. The company recognizes North Carolina as a convenient location with excellent business climate. Also, the state boasts a well-trained workforce that will support the company’s growth strategy in North America.
The US expansion plan includes employing bakers, packagers, quality assurance specialists, and other employees to its new Mebane facility. That will see the company add a total annual payroll of around $2.1 million. Even so, Jan Boone, the CEO of Lotus Bakeries, was very optimistic that the US market would generate revenue adequate to service current expenditure. He also noted that they feel grateful to expand its market beyond Lembeke, Belgium. Jan Boone also pointed out that the company and its employees were extremely proud with the expansion into the world’s largest consumer market.
Most notably, the US expansion plan will increase the size of Lotus’s factory from approximately 175,000 square feet to 225,000 square feet. That constitutes an additional $17.4 million investment from the Belgian confectioner. The facility in Alamance County is expected to cost an approximated $72.7 million.
The proposed expansion brought Lotus’s real property investment in the North Carolina Commerce Park up to $32.1 million. That is from its original projected investment of $19.2 million. That was an amended increase of $12.9 million. Additionally, Lotus’s personal property investment is increasing from $36.1 million to $40.6 million. That is an increase of a whopping $4.5 million. With such investments, the company is anticipated to experience tremendous growth in the United States.
Financing the US Expansion
During the unveiling of the US expansion plan, the company declared that the Alamance County approves about $2.9 million worth of incentives. Besides, the State of North Carolina provided a performance-based grant of up to $180,000 from One North Carolina Fund.
The company claims to invest close to $48 million in its first US production site. That will see the company increase its market share considerably. Consequently, its revenue grew by over five percent. In 2017, the company disclosed an annual revenue of 524.1 million Euros.
The company plans to accept more investments to facilitate growth in other states. The company expects to interact with a receptive market in the US. That, in turn, will help the company to receive more revenue. The expansion also aimed to bring over 60 jobs to the resident of Alamance County.
Sources
https://www.cpexecutive.com/post/lotus-bakeries-invests-48m-in-first-us-plant/
https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/7157-lotus-bakeries-to-build-bakery-in-north-carolina