When on an afternoon scavenge at my parents’ house recently, I came across something that felt novel: an individually wrapped Biscoff.
The spiced, caramelised snappy biscuit might have once been the reserve of hairdressers and aeroplanes, but is everywhere in 2024. The flavoured biscuit originated from the Flanders region of Belgium, Netherlands and France, and was generically named Speculoos/Speculaas before Lotus Bakeries launched their own: Biscoff – a combination of the words “biscuit” and “coffee”.
Today, the instantly recognisable flavours of the biscuit, and Biscoff, the brand, in particular, are everywhere. Following in the footsteps of ubiquitous salted caramel, Nutella, or even the quickly forgotten go-to G&T (remember when everyone was infusing baked goods with gin & tonic syrups?), it’s become the de facto novelty flavour on supermarket shelves and dessert menus.
Finding a Biscoff in its pure, unadulterated form made it apparent how much the original has been sidelined, while the idea of Biscoff has been plastered across British palettes.
Dubbed by Lotus Bakeries as Europe’s “favourite cookie with coffee since 1932”, stumbling across Biscoff had a somewhat retro feel – it calls back to the promise of holidays or the taste of youth.
But now you can find it all over the place. It’s in supermarkets: as the packets of biscuits, naturally. But then came the spread, the slightly nauseating sounding but delicious tasting “cookie butter”. It made its way to UK shelves first in 2009, but didn’t really take off until the early 2010s when it was commonly dubbed “crack-in-a-jar“. Then in 2019 came the big wave: they added ice cream tubs, then sandwich biscuits, then in 2020 came Biscoff chocolate bars and individual ice creams in 2022.
But it’s in other retailers too. Since 2020 they’ve had official collaborations with KitKat, Cinnabon, Costa, McDonald’s, Krispy Kreme, and Trek Power bars. And it’s unavoidable in small, independent shops who are keen to engage with Lotus’s proactive approach to licensing – you can buy their products wholesale in biscuit, spread or crumb form, and their site has very detailed examples of exactly how small and independent brands can, and cannot, make use of their iconic cookies.
As for the “why” of it all, the answer may seem obvious. It makes the company money (their profits in the UK have continued to climb) and as Kelly Saliger, president of the Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys tells the i, their “novel approach” to trademark benefits both small businesses and the brand.
But that doesn’t explain the level of fervour Biscoff generates: particularly among millennials and Gen Z, and particularly on social platforms like TikTok. Jennifer Creevy, director of food and drink at WGSN, says it’s all part of the ways people are seeking comfort in nostalgia.
“Nostalgia continues to play a big part in our food choices as we continue to live through the polycrisis and the world feels like a very uncertain place. Consumers are seeking the comfort of either flavours they knew during their childhood, or flavours and brands from previous generations’ childhoods that they are just discovering for the first time. Caramelised biscuits play right into this trend.”
Really, it’s just the latest in the long line of food trends that combine nostalgia with the novelty of new combinations. But what is the tipping point?
For their part, Lotus is hedging its bets that the appeal will last. They recently announced a deal with the US corporation Mondelez and Cadbury, with plans to launch co-branded chocolate next year. I will give them credit for at least not developing their own cloying candle, but the flavour no longer feels nostalgic, or novel. I ate that one biscuit I found at my parents, and that, frankly, is enough for me for the next while.
I’d argue we’re there. You can get a tub of Biscoff spread with a sterling silver lid for a measly £250. TikTok is heaving with recipes as well as the beginnings of a backlash, with users lamenting its presence everywhere. And in some ways you can’t fault those pushing back.
You can now buy a range of non-branded groceries that are just caramelised biscuit-flavoured – sauces, cereals, porridge, snack bars, hot cross buns, popcorn, beer, and even tea and coffee. One horrified colleague even found a Biscoff burger on a pub menu. The biscuits are no longer even present; just a concoction of various additives to evoke something approximating the flavour that everyone loves to love.
Just like pumpkin spice before it, the vaguely spiced, sickly sweet scent will no doubt start popping up in homewares soon too. In fact, a quick search has found you can already buy caramelised biscuit – and (presumably unlicensed) Biscoff-scented candles. The moment a flavour becomes so ubiquitous it is being synthetically imitated, it’s already over. Kemi Badenich also revealed this week that the Biscoff is her biscuit of choice, a death knell if ever there were one.
If caramelised biscuit usurped salted caramel’s crown as de facto flavour, the only real question left is what will take her down? After going viral in Waitrose Easter egg form this year, my money is on pistachio.