On October 30, 2020, our country was in turmoil. No, it wasn’t yet another confusing press conference sowing division. It was something much worse. Something that caused many Belgians to spontaneously choke on their coffee. Lotus Speculoos, the faithful companion to that very cup of coffee, is now called Biscoff. A tasteless choice or a stroke of genius?
The name Biscoff didn’t just appear out of thin air. It is a contraction of biscuit and coffee, and the name by which our favorite cookie is known worldwide. Lotus Speculoos is only used in Belgium, the Netherlands, and France.
The name change fits into Lotus’s growth story. “The dream is to turn Biscoff into a global brand,” CEO Jan Boone noted in an interview with De Tijd. The company is the largest Belgian Owned Brand in the world, is active in some 65 countries, and even saw growth of 8.5% in the first half of 2020, despite the closure of the hospitality industry.
All the ingredients seemed to be there for a successful Biscoff story. And we also think it’s a logical step. Albeit with a few reservations.
The name change met with a lot of protest in Belgium. This was evident on Twitter, where the topic was more trending that day than corona and the second lockdown.
A petition to keep the name was just short of being started—something Colruyt did experience when it wanted to change the name of Cara Pils.
Jan Boone later admitted he hadn’t expected such emotional reactions. While we weren’t that surprised—and perhaps even slightly emotional ourselves. Because Speculoos isn’t just a cookie. It’s an emotional product. A nostalgic snack that reminds you of brasserie visits with your grandparents. A coffee for them, and the speculoos cookie that came with it for you.
The fact that Jan Boone mentioned in passing during an interview that the name would disappear seemed like a strange strategic decision to us. Such a major change requires thoughtful storytelling. A narrative in which you take your customers along in your company’s goals and successes. It allows them to better frame the changes and, in an ideal scenario, be proud of them.
Leaving the ever-authentic Lotus Speculoos behind is a striking move in a marketing era where local, tradition, and authenticity rule the roost. But even though Biscoff doesn’t want to deny its roots, as a global brand, it cannot cling to them desperately.
In other words: as proud Belgians, we should be cheering on the ambition of the Belgian company Lotus to become one of the biggest brands in the world instead of rejecting it.
Lotus isn’t the first to venture into a name change. Raider became Twix in 1991. Our favorite Smiths chips were called Lay’s from 2001 onwards. And we continued to consume all those sweets en masse. (We really should stop doing that sometime.) We will continue to do the same with our speculoos, uh Biscoff, with our coffee.