Lotte to enter snacks segment; to invest USD 300 million in next 5 years in India

South Korean multinational Lotte volition grow its products beyond crystal pick and choco pastry arsenic it plans to participate the snack conception riding connected the popularity of K-food and K-pop successful India, said a apical institution authoritative connected Thursday. Lotte, which opened an crystal pick manufacturing installation successful Pune for its Havmor business, has plans to motorboat 'Pepero', its celebrated chocolate-coated biscuit stick, said Lotte Wellfood CEO Paul Yi.

"It is the fig 1 branded confectionery snack successful Korea, and we volition beryllium launching and introducing that to the Indian consumers successful July of this year, producing it for the archetypal clip extracurricular of Korea successful our Haryana plant," helium said.

Lotte presently produces the snack barroom 'choco pie' successful India. Lotte Confectionery, successful 2017 acquired Havmor Ice Cream.

When asked whether Lotte Wellfood would present caller products and participate into caller segments, Yi said: "We volition research different categories, specified arsenic snacks." Lotte Wellfood Co, formerly known arsenic Lotte Confectionery, is simply a South Korean confectionery multinational headquartered successful Seoul, South Korea having 8 overseas subsidiaries and accumulation factories astatine 21 locations.

It has invested Rs 500 crore astatine its caller Pune works for Havmor crystal cream, which has an yearly accumulation capableness of 50 cardinal litres and is expandable up to 100 cardinal litres successful consequent years. It is designed to cater to the surging request for crystal cream, peculiarly during the aggravated summertime play successful the country.

According to Yi, India's crystal pick marketplace is tiny successful examination to different countries, but it has "tremendous opportunity" arsenic it scales up.

On being asked astir the adjacent signifier of concern successful India, Yi said: "We person a fundamental, foundational 3 to five-year roadmap, and that 3 to five-year roadmap presently calls for an further USD 300 cardinal of capableness and proviso concatenation enlargement endeavours.

"Now, arsenic we revisit those plans, it volition evolve, and my conjecture is it volition lone spell up," helium added.
This caller works volition besides assistance Lotte successful expanding the scope of Havmor crystal pick and to "go down arsenic acold southbound arsenic Bengaluru and Chennai". Havmor is expanding beyond Gujarat and already has a beingness successful galore parts of the country, Yi added.

Besides, Lotte is besides looking for export imaginable from this plant, catering to neighbouring regions.

"We person plans to export to the Middle East and surely Africa is simply a possibility," helium said.
However, helium besides added though export from India is simply a portion of Lotte Wellfood, the absorption would beryllium the Indian market, which has immense potential.

Currently, Havmor's revenues are astir USD 200 cardinal and has astir 5 per cent stock of India's branded crystal pick market.

In countries similar China, the crystal pick marketplace size is USD 23 billion, expects it to germinate successful the coming years and has "tremendous opportunity".

"As the Indian user basal expands and evolves, it volition surely spell towards the China side. So it volition beryllium bully for the full category. But certainly, arsenic we pb innovation and instauration and transportation to the Indian consumers with innovation... We consciousness similar we person a tremendous opportunity," helium said.

In India, Lotte Wellfood had successful August 2024 announced the merger of its businesses -- Lotte India and Havmor Ice Cream -- into 1 entity.

Asked astir the development, Paul said: "We are connected docket to complete, hopefully by the extremity of the archetypal quarter, the archetypal 4th of this year, which is March."