One Year After Renovation, Lotte Mart Cooking Section Sees 25% Sales Increase... Appreciation Event

1st Anniversary Re-release of American Chinese Series Part 2
Introducing 13 New Products Including Healthy Food Series and Limited Editions
Only One Brand Festa from the 19th... Card and Coupon Discounts

Lotte Mart announced on the 17th that it will hold the Lotte Mart PB promotion "Only One Brand Festa" for two weeks starting from the 19th to celebrate the 1st anniversary of the re-launch of its home meal replacement private brand (HMR PB) "Yorihada."

Models are introducing key products from 'Yorihada' at Lotte Mart Zeta Flex Seoul Station branch.
[Photo by Lotte Mart].

To realize the vision of being the "No.1 Grocery Store," Lotte Mart fully revamped and re-launched the HMR brand Yorihada in October last year as part of its strategy to strengthen PB competitiveness. The brand re-launch was prepared over about 10 months, led by professional chefs from the Lotte Mart Food Innovation Center (FIC) and product planners (MDs) in their 20s and 30s. Only the brand name Yorihada was retained, while all elements that make up the brand, such as concept, strategy, and packaging, were newly built from the customer's perspective. Then, in March, Lotte Mart launched "Oneul Joeun," which integrated several existing PB brands, compressing the grocery PB brands into two: Yorihada and Oneul Joeun, focusing its capabilities on these.

The reason Lotte Mart focused on revamping its PB brands is that it is an area where the essence of the large discount store business?quality and price competitiveness?can be most faithfully reflected, while also incorporating unique strategies and concepts to create exclusive products that differentiate it from competitors. As customer demand for PB products increases amid high inflation, PB product competitiveness has become an essential factor for company growth. Over the one year since the re-launch, sales of Lotte Mart's Yorihada products increased by about 25% compared to before the re-launch, and Lotte Super's sales rose by about 30%. The number of new customers who purchased Yorihada products (customers who had not visited Lotte Mart for more than six months) increased by about 40% compared to before the re-launch, and the repurchase rate of Yorihada products was higher than the average for that product category.

Lotte Mart released 13 new Yorihada products. Following the initial success of the "American Chinese" concept products that led Yorihada's early popularity at the time of re-launch, the second series of the American Chinese line includes "Yorihada General So Chicken" and "Yorihada Sichuan-style Mapo Tofu," each priced in the high 7,000 KRW range.

Yorihada General So Chicken is one of the most popular American Chinese chicken dishes alongside Kung Pao Chicken. Its balance of sweet and salty flavors makes it enjoyable for all ages, making it a suitable menu for family customers. The PB specialist MD conducted about 200 recipe improvements over 10 months, reviewing every step from the aging of chicken thigh meat to the thickness of the batter and the taste of the sauce before developing this product. Yorihada Sichuan-style Mapo Tofu is the first frozen Mapo Tofu product developed by Lotte Mart. Since tofu-based convenience foods typically lose moisture rapidly after thawing, developing a frozen product was challenging. However, after collaborating for eight months with a partner company holding a patented RO (Reverse Osmotic) process, they succeeded in developing a product that maintains the original savory taste and soft texture of tofu even after thawing.

Seven new healthy convenience food items are also introduced. "Yorihada Chicken Breast King Dumplings," "Yorihada Chicken Breast Steamed Dumplings (Cheongyang Chili & Bulgogi flavors)," "Yorihada Konjac Noodles (Katsuo & Bibim)," and "Yorihada Tofu Noodles (Jajang & Mapo)" feature high-protein, low-calorie ingredients such as chicken breast, tofu, and konjac.

Four limited-quantity products commemorating the 1st anniversary of Yorihada's re-launch will also be available. "Burning Grilled Jajangmyeon, Stir-fried Jjamppong, and Rose Tteokbokki" were launched reflecting the trend of increasing demand for spicy food, popularized by the "spicy food challenge" on social media among young people. "Yorihada Giant Budae Jjigae" is a large 2.3kg version of the Yorihada Budae Jjigae product, double the size of the existing product, with the price per 100g reduced by more than 30%.

During the Only One Brand Festa, Lotte Mart will offer three PB product purchase events including discounts, points accumulation, coupon giveaways, and prize draws to enable customers to shop reasonably. Under the theme "Yorihada Lovers Award," special 1st anniversary content introducing the most selected Yorihada products by customers over the past year and interview videos of actual purchasers will also be presented.

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