Lotte Food Resumes Philippine Canned Ham Exports Blocked by African Swine Fever

Resumption of Exports with Chicken Can Ham Development
Annual Contract Worth 3 Million USD

Lotte Food employees are loading the first shipment of Chicken Luncheon Meat, a canned ham exported to the Philippines, into containers and taking a commemorative photo. (Photo by Lotte Food)

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Lotte Food is resuming exports of canned ham to the Philippines, which had been halted due to African Swine Fever (ASF).

On the 25th, Lotte Food announced that it will start exporting canned ham, specifically chicken luncheon meat, to the Philippines. This comes after more than two years since the export route was cut off due to the Philippine government's complete import ban on products using Korean pork.

Lotte Food began official exports of canned ham to the Philippines in March 2019. However, exports were suspended after only six months when ASF broke out in Paju, Gyeonggi Province in September of the same year.

In response, Lotte Food collaborated with local distributors to develop chicken luncheon meat. After six months of research and development by Lotte Food and Lotte Central Research Institute, they were able to launch 100% chicken luncheon meat with optimized taste, texture, and color. This is the first development of 100% chicken luncheon meat among domestic canned hams. Through this, they obtained official import approval in the Philippines last July, and the first shipment has now been dispatched.

The export volume is 2.8 million cans annually, amounting to approximately 3 million USD. This represents 60% of Lotte Food's total canned ham export value last year, and over 30% of Korea's total canned ham export value of 9.4 million USD.

In the first half of this year, Lotte Food exported 921 tons of canned ham (including Rospam and Lotte luncheon meat), accounting for more than half (51%) of the total weight (1,790 tons). The export target for canned ham this year is 10 billion KRW, double that of last year.

In June last year, Lotte Food pioneered exports of domestic canned ham to Singapore, and in March this year, they additionally exported 'Rospam' made from Korean pork. From the end of June, canned ham products were introduced in over 2,000 stores of major hypermarkets in Taiwan (RT-Mart, PX Mart, SOGO Department Store). Currently, Lotte Food canned ham is exported to Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Australia, Chile, and Mexico. They plan to expand exports to Indonesia, Thailand, Mongolia, Japan, Russia, and other countries in the future.

A Lotte Food official said, "We are actively expanding canned ham exports by responding to overseas country-specific policies and regulations. With the technology and know-how that created Korea's first domestic canned ham, Rospam, we will ensure that excellent Korean canned ham can be enjoyed worldwide."

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