‘i’d Smoke Biscoff If I Could’: How A Little Belgian Biscuit Became A Social Media Sensation

Around 15 years ago, Ashley Markle was admitted into a concealed world, introduced to nan treasures of an exclusive proviso chain. She was staying astatine her aunt’s location and, 1 morning, erstwhile her aunt made her a coffee, she placed a small plastic-wrapped biscuit connected nan side. “I’d ne'er seen them before,” says Markle. She spot into it: “It was a lukewarm flavour that I’d ne'er really had successful a cookie. I’m like, what is this?”

Her aunt had discovered nan small, mildly spiced Biscoff biscuits arsenic an hose snack. She loved them truthful overmuch that she contacted nan maker, Belgian institution Lotus, and asked them to vessel a container to her successful nan US. At that time, says Markle, “I deliberation she was nan only personification who really had them successful her home.” But, arsenic we each know, nan world changes rapidly. Last year, Biscoff was nan fastest-growing biscuit marque successful nan US.

Created successful 1932, nan spiced caramel biscuit has been described arsenic a “gen Z obsession” by nan Times, while Biscoff-branded treats, aliases rival companies’ “caramelised biscuit” products, look to beryllium everyplace this spring, from Easter eggs to basking transverse buns. There person been Biscoff peaks each fewer years complete nan past decade. In 2014, nan spreadable type was being described arsenic “crack successful a jar”. In 2016, Biscoff was whisked into nan freakshake trend. By 2021, fuelled by nan Covid lockdown home-baking boom, nan marque had taken disconnected crossed societal media, while nan cook Jon Watts demonstrated three Biscoff recipes successful conscionable nether 7 minutes connected nan daytime TV show This Morning. “That was my worst ever TV appearance,” he says pinch a laugh.

In January this year, Biscoff took disconnected erstwhile again, pinch group crossed TikTok and Instagram obsessing complete a viral “Japanese cheesecake” – truthful named because it started pinch Japanese creators sinking biscuits into a tub of yoghurt and leaving it overnight.

‘A cult following’ … sponge cakes made from Biscoff biscuits and spread. Photograph: Michael Nero Jonnes/Getty Images

Markle is simply a societal media creator who posts snack recipes connected her channels each day. Whenever she does a Biscoff station – gallic toast sticks and milkshakes, among others – her videos ever fly; her effort astatine nan cheesecake successful January has had much than 4m views connected TikTok, and her two-ingredient Biscoff cookies from past summertime are connected 5.6m. “I deliberation it’s benignant of for illustration a cult pursuing astatine this point,” she says.

My friend Raj, a teacher, developed a sensation for Biscoff astir 2014, aft raiding personification else’s stash. He bought her a replacement packet, positive 10 much packets for himself (ordering online, he accidentally turned retired to person bought 10 boxes afloat of multipacks, ending up pinch a immense stockpile). At his school, a workfellow keeps a packet of Biscoff arsenic an inducement for nan twelvemonth 11 students to show up for out-of-hours tutoring. “I ate them all. From his drawer,” Raj says. “I bought him a replacement pack, arsenic well. I’d fume Biscoff if I could.”

What makes a viral nutrient trend? Manufacturers are hopeless to know. Lisa Harris, co-founder of nan food and portion consultancy Harris and Hayes, says Biscoff isn’t a azygous inclination successful itself, much an “expression of various converging trends”. The first constituent is nostalgia. Biscoff is simply a modern type of nan accepted Belgian speculoos, spiced biscuits that person been astir since nan mediate ages, erstwhile they were eaten to observe December’s feast of Saint Nicholas. For consumers successful nan UK and US, nan Proustian unreserved is simply a much caller arena – a faux-fancy biscuit pinch its individual wrapper and exotic Euro-feel, nan benignant of point you’d find served pinch java connected a formation successful nan 80s, aliases astatine nan hairdresser’s successful nan 90s. “It’s rather an old-fashioned flavour,” says Harris. “I subordinate it pinch being connected nan broadside of a cup of tea. It’s sewage nostalgic relevance.” Another trend, she says, is “accessible indulgence, wrong astir people’s value range. With nan costs of living, group are looking for elemental ways to consciousness arsenic if they’ve done thing special.”

‘An illustration of modern collab- culture’ … Biscoff flavour Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Photograph: Business Wire/AP

Biscoff’s versatility, she says, is different logic it has taken off: “It tin beryllium successful drinks, ice-cream, desserts, basking chocolate.” And Biscoff’s partnerships pinch different brands – an illustration of modern “collab culture” says Harris – is different large trend. Often, products that person unique aliases beardown flavours, specified arsenic Marmite, Nutella, Guinness and Biscoff, return connected a life of their ain among consumers. “Fans tally pinch it and consciousness arsenic if they person ownership complete nan merchandise arsenic overmuch arsenic nan marque itself does,” says Harris. This plays retired crossed societal media. “Because of nan democratisation of contented creation, it will beryllium fans that create these trends, much truthful than nan brands – though I’m judge nan marque managers are perfectly rubbing their hands pinch glee.” The occurrence of Biscoff, she says, “is a confluence of those larger trends. The progressive ingredient, nan benignant of spark, is really that it’s a societal media first recipe.” It’s a self-sustaining narration – societal media creators cognize that jumping connected nan Biscoff bandwagon is an easy measurement to get views and followers.

Niamh Leonard-Bedwell, fast-moving user equipment editor of waste and acquisition publication nan Grocer, has been pursuing Biscoff’s rise. She says that nan makers haven’t been peculiarly progressive successful driving societal media trends, but they are responsive to them, posting customers’ and influencers’ videos connected their ain channels. They are besides successful nan process of removing nan Lotus embossing connected nan biscuits themselves, replacing it pinch nan connection Biscoff. “I suppose that was successful consequence to nan fame they were seeing connected societal media. They updated their branding to resonate much pinch younger shoppers.” The Japanese cheesecake trend, says Leonard-Bedwell, “had a existent effect connected sales. In nan week to 17 January, their measurement income were up 30% connected nan aforesaid clip past year.”

In its 2025 yearly results, released past month, Lotus announced a 10% gross increase, pinch much than half of that gross coming from nan Biscoff marque (Lotus besides owns different products including nan snack brands Trek and Bear, and nan sourdough crackers Peter’s Yard). Last year, it opened a mill successful Thailand to grow into nan Asia-Pacific marketplace (after launching 1 successful nan US, nan first extracurricular Belgium, successful 2019). Still owned by nan founding Boone family (alongside different Belgian baking dynasty), it is now tally by nan founder’s grandson – and namesake – Jan Boone, said to beryllium 1 of only 5 group who cognize Biscoff’s concealed recipe. Last year, he told nan Times: “We want to conquer nan world.”

There person been signs that Biscoff has its sights group connected much than conscionable sweets – it could beryllium coming for our main courses, arsenic well. In a promotional cookbook of nan company’s ain creation, Lotus included immoderate “surprisingly savoury” recipes – nan connection “surprisingly” doing a batch of dense lifting – including prawns successful Biscoff sauce, a creamy Biscoff duck breast, and a lukewarm goat’s food and Biscoff salad. Watts, book successful hand, says that he can’t really spot this taking off, moreover if nan merchandise is now a staple wrong teatime treats and puddings. (He himself likes nan “very distinct, caramelly flavour” and his latest cookbook features a look for Biscoff cheesecake.)

Watts sewage into Biscoff during nan pandemic, by measurement of its jarred, spreadable form. “It’s very easy to usage successful desserts: things for illustration brownies, blondies, cheesecakes, those no-bake aliases elemental bakes that everyone was doing astatine that time,” he says. The simplicity of nan recipes plays good connected Watts’s societal media; 1 barroom is made pinch thing but a full jar of spread, eggs and bicarbonate of soda. Whenever he posted a Biscoff recipe, he says, “it was going viral”.

The marque sewage a large boost during nan lockdowns, says Kiti Soininen, class head for nutrient and portion investigation astatine Mintel. “After that, [there was an summation in] nan velocity of merchandise launches containing specifically Biscoff-branded ingredients.” Its business pinch Mondelēz, proprietor of Cadbury, led to cocoa bars and Advent calendars. “And now this spring, you’ve sewage nan Easter eggs. It helps to support nan visibility going, to conscionable support re-energising that liking complete and supra what is going connected organically online,” she says.

Part of Biscoff’s success, says Soininen, is that it’s a “quite a universally likable flavour, if you comparison it pinch thing for illustration nan matcha trend, which has managed to get into tons of different products, but is simply a spot much divisive”. Consumers emotion novelty, she says, but only to a point, truthful a collaboration pinch known brands helps. “If it’s that benignant of safe adventure, wherever it’s sewage that newness, that freshness, but it’s pairing that pinch familiarity – that hits nan people pinch a batch of people.”

‘It’s rather a universally likable flavour’ … a Biscoff furniture cake. Photograph: Yellyana Hardi/Getty Images

Will Biscoff past nan wellness trend? Or shoppers’ increasing interest astir ultra-processed foods (UPFs)? Biscoff biscuits incorporate thenar lipid – truthful do nan sandwich biscuit type and nan dispersed – arsenic good arsenic an emulsifier. “What we’re seeing successful our user investigation is that astir group person a moderation mindset,” says Soininen. “There’s a very mini percent of group who are trying to eat healthily perfectly each nan time. You’ve sewage tons of group who are trying to eat healthily astir of nan time, and who deliberation it’s OK to person a dainty now and then.” The Japanese cheesecake inclination took off, she says, partially because of nan wellness benefits of nan yoghurt – “but you’ve sewage that indulgent constituent to it”.

Biscoff’s accepted consciousness whitethorn insulate them a small from nan antagonistic associations of UPFs. There is simply a disconnect, says Soininen, betwixt what a merchandise really would beryllium classified arsenic “and nan intuition, wherever nan [intuition says], ‘Well, if my grandma tin person bought this past it can’t beryllium genuinely ultra-processed.’”

Few observers spot nan inclination ending immoderate clip soon. “I deliberation nan truth that a batch of retailers are utilizing Biscoff arsenic inspiration for their ain brands shows there’s a clear appetite for that flavour,” says Leonard-Bedwell, pointing to products including porridge, tea, popcorn and meal cereal. Markle, who is readying much Biscoff recipes, says: “I don’t spot anybody deciding that they don’t for illustration Biscoff immoderate more.”