Lotte Wellfood to merge subsidiaries in India to boost brand presence

Lotte India. [Courtesy of Lotte Wellfood Co.]

South Korea’s Lotte Wellfood Co. announced on Tuesday that it will merge its subsidiaries to establish an integrated entity in India.

Lotte India and Havmor held respective board meetings on Monday and approved the merger plan. Under the plan, Lotte India, the confectionery division, will absorb Havmor, the frozen dessert business.

Lotte Wellfood plans to complete the necessary procedures, including shareholder approval, in the second half of this year and launch the integrated entity early next year.

Through this merger, Lotte Wellfood aims to enhance management efficiency and maximize the synergy between the two companies.

In addition to external growth, the company plans to consolidate logistics and production bases and expand product lines to solidify the Lotte brand in the local market.

Lotte Wellfood entered the Indian market in 2004 by acquiring Indian confectionery company Parrys and renaming it Lotte India, making it the first Korean food company to enter India.

Lotte India’s sales increased from 92.9 billion won ($67 million) in 2022 to 103.4 billion won last year. Havmor maintained its position as the market leader in the ice cream segment in western India with sales of 165.6 billion won last year.

The integrated entity aims to achieve annual sales of 1 trillion won and secure future growth engines through aggressive investment. Lotte Wellfood has strengthened its production capacity by expanding overseas factories.

The company invested about 70 billion won in Pune, Maharashtra, to establish a frozen dessert production facility, which is set to commence operations in the second half of this year.

Lotte Wellfood expects that once the production facility is in operation, the supply range will expand from western India to the central and southern regions.

A Pepero production base, built with an investment of about 33 billion won at Lotte India’s Haryana plant, is also scheduled to begin operations in the second half of next year.