Lotte Food's Successful Technology Partnership Produces 'Bungee Whip Topping'... Targeting Dessert and Coffee Niches

Domestic Production and Launch of 'Bungee Whip Topping' through Technical Partnership with Beongi Co.
Expansion of Sales from Domestic to Overseas... Bakery Use Launch Planned

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Lotte Food has officially begun targeting the niche markets of desserts and coffee beverages by introducing world-class whipping cream technology domestically.

On the 16th, Lotte Food announced that it has started producing and launching the popular whipping cream product "Bunge Whip Topping" in Korea through a technology partnership with Bunge, a global leader in plant-based whipping cream. "Bunge Whip Topping" is a plant-based whipping cream product that can be used in various desserts and beverages such as coffee, frappes, and patbingsu. It is popular worldwide for its fresh and smooth cream taste, excellent workability, and moldability.

Previously, the domestic market imported the product manufactured by OEM in Canada under the name "Bunge Whip Topping," which was used in cafes and bakeries. However, since December 2018, after Lotte Food and Bunge formed a technology partnership, it has recently become possible to produce Bunge Whip Topping domestically through local facilities. Bunge transferred its 30 years of accumulated whip topping manufacturing technology to Lotte Food’s Cheonan plant and ceased production at its Canadian plant that previously produced the whip topping. As a result, Lotte Food in Korea has become the sole production base for Bunge Whip Topping.

To this end, Lotte Food invested over 1 billion KRW in equipment at the Cheonan plant. A Bunge technician with 30 years of experience was stationed at the Lotte Food Cheonan plant line to transfer production technology. After about a year of overcoming the difficulties of technology transfer through dozens of tests, Lotte Food succeeded in self-producing Bunge Whip Topping and began full-scale sales this September.

Through this, not only will world-class whipping cream be smoothly supplied to the domestic market, but Bunge is also expected to supply Lotte Food’s OEM products to Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern markets, making Lotte Food a global export base for Bunge.

Lotte Food expects to leverage differentiated competitiveness to target niche markets in the growing domestic dessert and coffee markets. According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, the domestic dessert market size grew about fivefold from 300 billion KRW in 2014 to 1.5 trillion KRW in 2018 and continues to show an upward trend. The number of coffee specialty stores is also increasing. According to the "KB Self-Employment Analysis Report" by KB Financial Group Management Research Institute, there are over 70,000 coffee specialty stores in Korea. The domestic coffee market size, which was about 5.9 trillion KRW in 2016, increased to 6.8 trillion KRW in 2018 and is expected to reach 8.6 trillion KRW in 2023.

The home market is also a target. "Bunge Whip Topping" can be conveniently used not only in specialty stores but also by households that want to make desserts. At home, users can put Bunge Whip Topping into a whipping bowl and lightly mix it with a whisk, then pour it in liquid form over coffee to enjoy drinks like Einsp?nner coffee. Currently, Bunge Whip Topping is available for purchase through Lotte Food’s official online mall, "Lotte Food Mall," and will be sold at discount stores in the future. Additionally, Lotte Food plans to introduce various new products such as whipping cream for bakery use through continuous collaboration with Bunge.

Moreover, Lotte Food plans to strengthen technological competitiveness and introduce a new lineup of edible oils through ongoing collaboration with Bunge. Bunge is a global producer and supplier of edible oils with a diverse lineup ranging from bakery products to cooking products. Previously, since December 2018, Lotte Food began cooperation on special edible oils and launched "Lotte High Oleic Soybean Oil" in May this year, which has high stability against oxidation and heat, resulting in minimal quality changes during cooking and maintaining uniform flavor.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.