"Catch the World's 2nd Largest Hallyu Fans"... Lotte Achieves SME Export Success in Mexico

First Ever Latin American Host Country... 80 Local Buyers Visited
2 Million Instant Noodle Induction Cooker Water Purifiers Contracted
27,000 Attend Hallyu Event Featuring Girls' Generation Yuri and Others

Lotte Homeshopping announced on the 18th that it recorded over $20 million in export consultation achievements for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) at the '2024 Korea Brand Expo in Mexico', held in Mexico from the 13th to the 16th (local time).

The Korea Brand Expo is a win-win program introduced by Lotte Homeshopping in 2016 to help domestic SMEs enter overseas markets. Since 2022, it has been expanded into an integrated group-level project involving Lotte Holdings and its distribution affiliates.

On the 15th, the opening ceremony of the "2024 Korea Brand Expo in Mexico" was held at the World Trade Center in Mexico City. From the left: Kim Sang-soon, Head of KOTRA Latin America Region; Nomad Doi; Heo Tae-wan, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Mexico; Kim Jae-gyeom, CEO of Lotte Home Shopping; Kim Young-hwan, Secretary General of the Foundation for Cooperation between Large, Medium, and Small Enterprises and Agriculture and Fisheries; Girls' Generation's Yuri; and Umberto Esceda Ramos, Representative of the Mexican Foreign Trade, Investment, and Technology Commission.
[Photo by Lotte Home Shopping]

This event was held in Mexico, the Latin American region, for the first time ever. Mexico is the region with the second largest number of Hallyu fans worldwide, approximately 27 million, and demand for K-consumer goods is rapidly increasing, with trade volume between Korea and Mexico surpassing $20 billion (about 27 trillion KRW) in 2022.

The event was attended by 100 domestic SMEs hoping to enter the local market and 80 buyers from seven Latin American countries including Mexico, Colombia, and Peru, who conducted consultations. During the event, a total of 538 consultations were held, resulting in $21.7 million (about 30 billion KRW) in consultation achievements.

Participating companies showcased K-beauty products such as essences and cushions, K-food including tteokbokki, gimbap, and kimchi, as well as fashion and daily necessities to local buyers. In particular, an induction water-purifying cooker that allows instant preparation of ramen attracted great interest, leading to export contracts for more than 200 units on site. A small business manufacturing ampoule mask packs also gained popularity by signing business agreements with six buyer companies.

Additionally, the event attracted about 27,000 visitors during its duration with various Hallyu cultural performances such as K-food cooking shows and classes, beauty consulting shows, Girls' Generation's Yuri's K-lifestyle talk show, K-POP cover dance, and Korean traditional dance, according to Lotte.

Kim Jae-kyum, CEO of Lotte Homeshopping, said, "We are pleased that the 'Korea Brand Expo,' held for the first time in the Latin American region, successfully supported the global market entry of excellent domestic SMEs." He added, "We will continue to actively support SMEs in pioneering overseas markets by operating various win-win programs focused on promising export regions."

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