[K-Food Hidden Hero] Lotte Food 'Shefood' Targets Family Consumers with Product Expansion and Quality Improvement

⑭ Lotte Food Ready Meal Brand 'Shefood'

Factory Expansion for Ready Meal Line
Enhancing Quality with In-House Production Start

Lotte Food Home Meal Replacement Brand 'Chef Food' Product Image

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Lotte Food is consolidating its home meal replacement (HMR) brands, previously divided into three?‘Shefood,’ ‘La Cuisine,’ and ‘Chogasamgan’?into a single brand, ‘Shefood,’ and will nurture it as the flagship brand.

Expansion of Gimcheon Factory

Through an investment of 93 billion KRW this month, Lotte Food has expanded its Gimcheon factory and has begun full-scale operation of the convenience food line. The Gimcheon factory, which had only produced processed meat products, will now produce dumplings, fried foods, and sausages in-house, which were previously outsourced. In July, an additional HMR line will be introduced to produce convenience food products with enhanced quality. ‘Shefood’ is expected to expand its sales this year, covering everything from lunch boxes, gimbap sandwiches, and salads to rice, noodles, and fried foods. Lotte Food anticipates that Shefood’s sales this year will grow about 20% from last year’s 203.1 billion KRW to 241 billion KRW.

In addition to introducing eco-friendly packaging materials, Lotte Food plans to strengthen eco-friendly management across all areas of its business, including products, sales activities, and production processes. Shefood uses recycled plastic for its product packaging. Through collaboration with Lotte Central Research Institute, Lotte Aluminum, and Kolon Industries, 80% of the outermost surface printing film of the package uses r-PET. This is expected to reduce the use of new plastic materials by about 10 tons annually.

Targeting Family Customers

Shefood focuses on delivering the taste of home-cooked meals through easy preparation. While competitors concentrate on targeting single-person and two-person households, Shefood targets family customers. The main consumers of Shefood’s popular products, roll dumplings and cheese sticks, are parents with young children. Roll dumplings are purchased by family consumers as a side dish or a light meal. Cheese sticks, made from 100% natural cheese, are often bought as a trusted snack for children.

Lotte Food expects rapid growth in the HMR market through establishing the Shefood brand and improving the quality of existing products. A Lotte Food official stated, “We plan to develop differentiated products that meet consumer demands and conduct integrated marketing to increase consumer awareness. Through additional investment, we will introduce new HMR lines and present convenience food products with enhanced quality.”

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