First North American Factory

Lotus Bakeries constructed their first U.S. manufacturing facility for Biscoff cookies, a favorite in-flight snack for many airline passengers. Since 1932, these cookies have been produced solely in Belgium and shipped worldwide. Market data indicated that North America would soon become Lotus Bakeries’ largest global market, so the company needed to develop a strategic plan for how best to serve this large customer base.

Dennis Group’s master plan for Lotus takes into account not just expansion of the Biscoff cookie product, but also introduction of new products including their popular cookie spread. The Mebane plant’s current utilities are sized for a quadrupling of capacity.

Additionally, the finished goods warehouse was constructed adjacent to the packaging material warehouse, and the sum of those two areas are sized for the required packaging material warehouse at total build-out. The master plan accounted for a separate finished goods warehouse and shipping dock in the future.