Dive Brief:
- Breakfast and baked snack maker Belgian Boys received a $7 million investment led by Equilibra Ventures, the incubation and innovation platform of Kind Snacks founder Daniel Lubetzky.
- Belgian Boys, run by Belgium-born husband and wife Greg Galel and Anouck Gotlib, has products available at large retailers including Walmart and Target. The partnership between Equilbira and Belgian Boys will help it become a global brand.
- Lubetzky’s Equilibra has invested in several trendy food brands to give them a leg up. Its portfolio includes plant-based Mexican cuisine brand Somos, artisanal Greek yogurt brand Ellenos and egg white snack chips brand Quevos, which Lubetzky first invested in during an episode of “Shark Tank.”
Dive Insight:
Belgian Boys mixes together many of the big trends in CPGs today: international flair, indulgence, clean labels and breakfast. This investment and its associated partnership with Equilibra and Lubetzky — who essentially reinvented a popular category — can help the company continue to go far.
“We were most drawn to Belgian Boys’ passionate and innovative leaders,” Equilibra Managing Director Elle Lanning said in a written statement. “Instead of adhering to tried-and-true playbooks, Belgian Boys is writing its own rules and changing the entire game. Best of all, they are doing it with family values, entrepreneurial drive and contagious positive energy.”
Even before this investment, Belgian Boys had posted massive growth. The company, which was ranked last year on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies, had three-year revenue growth of 253%, Deli Market News reported. Gotlib, Belgian Boys’ CEO, said that a part of the company’s pandemic success came from its positioning. The company’s products are sold in the fresh refrigerated segment of grocery stores, which was a good place, she said in the statement, as people in the U.S. stocked up on long-lasting goods that were “beyond the typical American breakfast of eggs and bacon.”
Belgian Boys has stayed active in innovation as well. The company is known for its stroopwafel cookies, cookie-sized Belgian waffles, bite-size pancakes and desserts. Just last month, it launched a new toaster-ready Brioche French Toast offering exclusively at Target. All of the company’s products are made in Europe, but the company itself is based in the United States.
The company has also toed into the upcycling trend, partnering with Misfits Market last year to launch a stroopwafel made with scraps from the cookie’s production process.
Despite its name, Belgian Boys is a female-owned company. It’s the fifth company that’s founded, owned or operated by a woman in Equilibra’s portfolio, according to a statement. Gotlib has achieved prominence in the business world, and was selected for the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women North America Class of 2021, a program that connects female entrepreneurs with the resources they need to help scale.
As pandemic-related restrictions continue to lift, Belgian Boys is in a good place for continued success. Its offerings are convenient and can be enjoyed on the go. And looking to the rest of the world, consumers elsewhere may also be receptive to the brand as Equilibra helps facilitate a wider launch.
