Lotte Korea and Japan work hand in hand to enter African snack market

For the first time among Korean confectionaries, Lotte Confectionery has entered African snack market. The company plans to sell products of Lotte Japan as well. Much attention is being paid as Lotte Confectionery is enhancing the cooperation between its subsidiaries in both Korea and Japan at a time when Lotte Group is in a serious crisis due to prosecution investigation.

The company announced on Thursday that it has opened its office in Nairobi, capital city of Kenya, and will officially begin its sales operation. Up to date, most of Korean snack makers have exported part of their products to African nations through intermediaries. Lotte Confectionery has become the first homegrown firm that has built up direct sales network in Africa. The company plans to set up its headquarters in Nairobi.

The company announced that it would introduce products such as Koala’s March, a representative chocolate snack of Lotte Japan, the biggest subsidiary among Lotte Japan whose core business is food production such as snacks and ice cream. “Displaying the cooperation between Lotte Japan and Lotte Confectionery in Korea is the easiest way to show to employees in Lotte Japan that Chairman Shin Dong-bin is leading both Lottes.

In fact, the cooperation between Korea’s Lotte Confectionery and Lotte Japan has become a symbol of integrated business between the two since Chairman Shin stepped up as a “single leader” of the Lotte Group. Products of Lotte Confectionery are sold in Taiwan through the local headquarters of Lotte Japan, while products of Lotte Japan are sold in Singapore through the local headquarters of Lotte Confectionery.

In addition, Lotte Confectionery and Lotte Japan have been working to design identical packages for the two representative products, Xylitol gum and Ghana chocolate since April this year.

한우신기자 hanwshin@donga.com