Lotte chief eyes W1tr in Pepero sales

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin (center) tours the Guylian chocolate production facility in Belgium in early September. (Lotte Group)

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin has chosen Pepero as the flagship product for a new strategic initiative in partnership with Lotte food affiliates from Korea and Japan, the nation's sixth-largest conglomerate announced Sunday. The initiative aims to elevate the chocolate stick snack into a global megabrand with annual sales of 1 trillion won ($748 million).

During Shin's recent business trip to Europe, the chairman visited Lotte's global food production facilities in Belgium and Poland to assess operations and explore strategies for enhancing global competitiveness through synergy between Korean and Japanese Lotte food companies.

After the inspection, Shin led the One Lotte Strategy Meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday. The One Lotte meeting serves as a consultative body where management heads from Lotte food companies in Korea and Japan come together to develop practical cooperation strategies.

"Korea-Japan Lotte must collaborate closely to establish a sustainable presence in the global market," Shin reportedly said at the meeting. "We need to show strong execution in developing multiple mega-brands, each with over 1 trillion won in international sales."

The meeting focused on positioning Pepero as a global megabrand, after it achieved global sales of 200 billion won last year.

To reach the 1 trillion won sales goal, plans include expanding in existing markets like Vietnam and India, exploring new markets and supporting joint sourcing and marketing efforts.

Both branches agreed to market products under a unified Lotte brand overseas, rather than distinguishing between the Korean and Japanese products, the group said.

They plan to streamline the global distribution network after evaluating the competitiveness of their flagship brands and will collaborate on testing new products before the official launch.

Shin's trip also included visits to the Guylian plant in Belgium and the Bethel plant in Poland.

Lotte Wellfood acquired Guylian, a top-three global chocolate brand, in 2008, while Japan's Lotte purchased Bethel, a Polish confectionery company, in 2010. Shin also attended the opening of the Chocolate Factory Museum, inaugurated by Lotte Bethel in Warsaw on Sept. 2. The museum, the facade of which resembles a chocolate bar segmented into squares, features an experience center, production facilities and R&D labs.

The trip was attended by executives from Lotte's holding companies and food affiliates in Korea and Japan, including Lotte Confectionery CEO Lee Young-gu, Lotte Wellfood CEO Lee Chang-yeop, Lotte Group's future strategy office head Shin Yoo-yeol and Lotte Holdings CEO Genichi Tamatsuka.

Meanwhile, the chairman also met with architect and designer Thomas Heatherwick in London on Thursday to discuss contemporary architectural design trends and strategies.

By Kim Hae-yeon(hykim@heraldcorp.com)