The Biscoff Effect
I’ve loved Biscoff for years.
I remember having it on flights long before it felt trendy. Just a small caramelized biscuit beside a cup of airplane coffee. Simple. Unassuming. Memorable. Now? It’s everywhere.
I currently have the spread in my kitchen and made a latte with it the other day. While working with a recent client, CSA Plus, one of the team members brought me a Tim Hortons Biscoff croissant and I genuinely paused mid-bite. I went through a short but intense obsession phase.
And that’s what fascinates me. Biscoff didn’t just grow. It embedded itself into culture.
What started as a humble airline cookie has become a globally recognized brand through disciplined product line extension and strategic cultural placement.
That’s not hype. That’s infrastructure.
1. Product Line Extension Done Right
The original product is a simple speculoos biscuit, first created in Belgium in the 1930s by Lotus Bakeries. The flavour profile is distinct: caramelized, lightly spiced, coffee-friendly.
The key word there is distinct.
When Biscoff expanded into cookie butter, sandwich cookies, ice cream bars, and branded dessert collaborations, they didn’t chase novelty. They translated the same core flavour into new formats.
The spread tastes like the cookie, the ice cream tastes like the cookie, and the croissant tastes like the cookie. That consistency protects the brand.
Too many companies dilute themselves when they expand. They chase adjacency instead of alignment. Biscoff expanded vertically within its own identity. That’s disciplined extension. It keeps the original product sacred while increasing total addressable use cases.
From airline snack, to grocery staple, to dessert ingredient, to café feature. Each step feels inevitable, not experimental.
2. Cultural Placement as Strategy
The airline move in the 1980s was genius. A captive audience, paired with coffee, repeated exposure. That created emotional memory. But what’s interesting now is how the brand continues to position itself inside cultural rituals.
Tim Hortons featuring Biscoff isn’t random. It reinforces the coffee pairing story that has always defined the brand. Café culture + indulgent treat + recognizable flavour. That’s narrative alignment.
You don’t suddenly see Biscoff protein bars or Biscoff savoury crackers. You see it where it belongs. Cultural placement works when it feels natural, not forced. And because Biscoff built familiarity first, collaborations feel like elevation rather than reach.
3. Style Discipline
There’s something else at play here: restraint.
The packaging hasn’t radically reinvented itself. The messaging hasn’t drifted into trend-heavy territory. The brand identity is steady. In a market that rewards constant reinvention, Biscoff refined.
That’s style. It signals confidence. It tells consumers, “We know what we are.” That stability allows expansion without confusion.
4. The Real Lesson
Biscoff’s rise isn’t about virality. It’s about alignment between product and ritual, flavor and format, and placement and identity
When product line extension is grounded in identity, and cultural placement reinforces rather than stretches the brand, growth compounds.
This applies beyond food - service businesses expand offerings, agencies add services, product brands introduce new SKUs. The question isn’t “What can we launch next?”, it's "does this extension strengthen the core, or distract from it?".
Biscoff strengthened the core. And now it’s no longer just a cookie. It’s a staple.
A Final Thought
The brands that last don’t expand recklessly, they expand coherently. From how we elevate, to the tools, spaces, and staples that support us. Sometimes those staples start as a humble airline biscuit.
If you’re thinking about expanding your brand, refining your positioning, or introducing new offerings, the real work isn’t volume, it’s alignment.
MTTE BLLK supports businesses in building strategy, systems, and brand foundations that make growth feel intentional rather than reactive.
If you’re ready to elevate thoughtfully, let’s talk.
