Lieven Vanlommel (CEO Foodmaker): “We are now also going to experiment with our own bakery”

©Foodmaker

Now that its retail branch has grown so much in recent years, Foodmaker will focus mainly on its food service branch in the coming period. In addition, the specialist in fresh and healthy food will also experiment with its own bakery. This is what CEO Lieven Vanlommel shares in this conversation.

Every day, around 300 Foodmaker chefs prepare approximately 110,000 fresh and healthy meals in the central kitchen in Westerlo. From there, dozens of trucks leave daily for retailers and food service points throughout Belgium, Germany, France and the Netherlands. With this, the company achieved a turnover of around 60 million euros in 2024, with a profitability of around 2 percent. For 2025, the company is aiming for a turnover of 80 million.

The company owed this strong advance in 2024 mainly to Germany, where the meals are now available in 3,800 Rewe supermarkets. “We have achieved in six months what it took us 20 years in Belgium,” says CEO Lieven Vanlommel proudly. “Purely for the Foodmaker brand, we experienced a growth of 40 percent last year, across all four European countries where we are active. In the first four months of 2025, we will see another growth of 50 percent. A very good result after 20 years.”

What is the current division between retail and food service?

Retail makes up about 70 percent of our business, food service the other 30 percent. We will focus mainly on restaurants in the coming years. That makes sense, since we have recently grown so much in retail, and we are continuously working on innovations with a team.

In 2024, we decided to franchise all of our restaurants, except for the test locations. We ended the year with 23 restaurants, ten more than two years ago. In 2025, we will have started with 25 restaurants and five more are in the pipeline to open this year. We are now mainly concerned with the question: how can we further roll out that concept to meet the great demand from different countries?

Are the portfolio and pricing comparable in retail and foodservice?

In retail we work 100 percent pre-packed. Only in Paris are there also open buffets. In restaurants it is the other way around, with 80 percent open buffets. As far as prices are concerned, that is comparing apples and oranges. Today in Europe we are paying 6 to 7 euros for a pre-packed portion. Which is cheap for the quality we deliver.

At the buffets in restaurants we are at 10 to 15 euros, with which you have eaten healthy and more than enough. In the traditional catering industry you sometimes pay up to 25 euros for a salad. The raw materials have also increased enormously. These are passed on to the customer. The traditional catering industry has really become too expensive for many people. With our restaurants we can respond to that.

How long is that sustainable for you at the current prices?

We have the central kitchen and the volume as a weapon, which a brasserie does not have. We are very strong in terms of purchasing. We make a lot of ingredients ourselves, so that margin is with us. If we make a meal salad, we pre-pack it, but also bring it to our restaurants. We can also run a restaurant with two or three people. That is why we can continue to do well at these prices. Of course, we should not go too crazy with rental prices and furnishings, because then no concept is profitable today.

What are the future expectations and plans specifically for the Belgian market?

We have a long-term, close and exclusive partnership with Delhaize, which we are very happy with. Our pre-packed brand works very well there. We grow together. In addition, we have partnerships with Sportoase within the food service and we are working on master franchises in all countries where we are active.

We are constantly thinking about further scaling up and are continuously investing in people and production capacity. With our current facilities of 20,000 square meters, we have reached our ceiling again. Growth costs money, but our profitability remains under control. We are satisfied with that.

How do you explain that success at Delhaize?

Delhaize has been putting quality first for years and wants to be the number one in healthy food. They offer our products for 6 euros, while the ingredients would cost more than 10 euros separately. In addition, our raw materials are of high quality and ultra-ultra-fresh, coming from our own biocyclic farm. Our mission is simple: to get as many people as possible to eat healthily. Nowadays, consumers have little time to cook fresh every day, and we respond to that with qualitative and affordable solutions.

You are also booming in German retail. What is the difference with Belgian retail?

Actually, there is no difference. Foodmaker is growing by 49 percent in Belgium, 92 percent in France and 400 percent in Germany. In Germany, we have gone from one region to seventeen. The consumer is looking for health and quality, and that evolution is comparable everywhere. Healthy food has no history. Our top ten products are the same everywhere, whether in Paris, Berlin or Cologne. Which indicates that our products have a broad appeal.

How many customers do you have and how often do they return?

Our restaurants receive at least 250 visitors per day, with peaks in the top businesses up to 1,000. We mainly see working people who need quick energy with a healthy meal. Every year, we have around 10 million visitors across all businesses, and in retail we sell around 20 million meals. We see many repeat purchases: customers who know our product keep buying it. In addition, we are strongly represented in the sports world, partly thanks to ambassadors such as Mathieu van der Poel.

About 90 percent of our foodservice turnover comes from lunch. Breakfast has declined significantly due to changing work patterns. For home consumption, dinner is the most important meal, accounting for 90 percent of our retail turnover. Bread products such as wraps and sandwiches still account for 20 percent of our turnover. In restaurants, the buffet accounts for 50 to 60 percent, while in retail, 80 percent are hot products and the rest are meal salads.

Do you see any opportunities in other countries?

Certainly. We are now well positioned in Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Germany. Now we are looking at opportunities in Southern Europe and overseas. Before corona we had a preliminary agreement in the US. We want to take that up again.

What innovations are still to come?

Our sports meals are a great success: since the launch in 2024, we have made 7 million of them. We are continuing on that theme and are now also starting our own bakery, where we experiment with bread, pies and quiches. Whether this will only be for food service or also for retail, the future will tell. The question is also: does the customer want that? Just because you have good ideas, does not mean that the customer will bite.

Thomas Rosseel