Lotus Bakeries: steps into healthy baby snacking segment

Lembeke / BE. (lbbv) Lotus Bakeries Group announces that it has acquired 100 percent of the shares of Kiddylicious, the innovative British food company that creates delicious, nutritious, portion-controlled snacks and meals for growing babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers.

Born in Buckinghamshire, UK, in 2009, Kiddylicious was founded by Sally Preston, mother of two and former Marks + Spencer food scientist, to help deliver delicious, nutritious food for little ones which benefits each stage of their development and helps shape a positive attitude towards health and nutrition for their future. The Kiddylicious brand is loved by parents and children alike. Due to its diverse, innovative portfolio of baby snacks and meals, Kiddylicious is the fastest growing brand in the UK baby food market and has become a must~stock brand for all major retailers. Kiddylicious has made its first successful steps as an international brand and is now already sold in multiple countries worldwide. Net revenue for Kiddylicious is estimated to be at least 21 million GBP for the year ending December 2018, with strong profitability of greater than 15 percent Earnings before Taxes.

The Kiddylicious brand is loved by parents and children for its range of snacks specifically designed to support little ones at every stage of their development. The product range is healthier than alternative snacks consumed by children with many of its recipes Free from dairy, lactose, gluten and allergens. Most products have no added sugars, salt or are high in protein.

Lotus is very impressed by what has been achieved by the Kiddylicious team, Led by Sally Preston (Managing Director) and Neil Mather (Commercial Director), in a short period of time, and admire their commitment to having amazing taste at the heart of everything they do.

Sally and Neil will continue to run the business from its office in Amersham, Buckinghamshire.

Lotus Bakeries has a focussed strategic vision on Food and health, and wants to offer every consumer a versatile range of snacks for every consumption moment and across all age groups, both in the indulgent and healthy snacking segment. Kiddylicious is an excellent strategic fit with the Natural Foods business unit of Lotus Bakeries created after the acquisition of the Nékd, TREK, BEAR and Urban Fruit brands in 2015.

Lotus has acquired 100 percent of the shares in Kiddylicious. The price paid represents approximately two times sales for the year ending December 2018.

Jan Boone, CEO of Lotus, is delighted with this new acquisition: «We are very proud to welcome the Kiddylicious brand, founder Sally + Neil and everyone from the Kiddylicious team into our Lotus family. We are excited as we firmly believe that the Kiddylicious brand has a delicious and extensive product offering for babies and toddlers, which enriches our product range in the healthier snacking segment. Kiddylicious products can already be found in multiple countries, yet Lotus Bakeries can help in realising the next level of growth for Kiddylicious by leveraging its international potential. Additionally we want to further strengthen the position of Kiddylicious in its home market the UK. The UK has contributed significantly and positively to Lotus Bakeries, where we have seen fantastic growth in past years for Lotus Biscoff biscuits and spread, and also continued strong growth for the healthy snacking brands Nokd, TREK, BEAR and Urban Fruit. Every Lotus Bakeries brand has its own identity and deserves dedicated brand ownership teams. We strongly believe that Kiddylicious should also keep a focussed team in order to flourish and further develop strongly in the future».