Oasy The quiet cooking empire of Lotte Marijnen
On television, chef Lotte Marijnen (41) is mostly the friendly face of "Morgen Weer Vers". Behind the scenes she built a culinary business on three legs in four years — and a net worth of several millions.
Anyone who only looks at the ratings underestimates Marijnen. Her cookbook series has reached combined sales of 410,000 copies; at a customary author royalty, that alone has brought in well over 1.1 million euros gross since 2022.
The second leg is her meal-box line, which she does not operate herself but licenses to a major box provider. Licensing deals in this industry run between 3 and 6 percent of revenue; with the 90,000 boxes per quarter the provider reports, we calculate 250,000 to 400,000 euros in licensing income per year.
Leg three is her restaurant in Utrecht, which according to the filed accounts turned a profit for the first time last year. The building, moreover, is owned by her property company — bought in 2021, and worth 1.4 million euros at the time according to the Land Registry transaction.
Our range for Lotte Marijnen's net worth: 3.4 to 4.6 million euros. The biggest uncertainty is the value of the licensing contract; if it runs through 2030, the estimate shifts to the top of the range.
Sources: CPNB cookbook sales figures, Chamber of Commerce filings of the restaurant and property companies, Land Registry transaction Utrecht (2021), industry margins for licensing deals.