Lotte Wellfood Integrates Indian Dried Fruit and Ice Cream Subsidiaries... "Strengthening Lotte Brand Position"

Lotte India Launches Integrated Corporation with Havmore
Strengthening Portfolio and Integrating Logistics and Production Bases

Lotte Wellfood (formerly Lotte Confectionery) announced on the 30th that it will launch an integrated corporation in India by merging its subsidiaries ‘Lotte India’ and ‘Havmor Ice Cream.’ The strategy is to strengthen the Lotte brand presence in India, the world’s most populous country, by integrating its two subsidiaries in confectionery and ice cream.

Lotte India and Havmor held board meetings on the 29th and approved the merger plan. The merger will take the form of Lotte India, the Indian confectionery corporation, absorbing Havmor, the Indian ice cream corporation. Although Havmor will be absorbed, the Havmor brand will continue to grow. The follow-up procedures for the merger, including shareholder approval, will be completed in the second half of the year, with the integrated corporation scheduled to launch early next year.

Lotte India Headquarters

Chang-yeop Lee, CEO of Lotte Wellfood, chose India as his first overseas visit earlier this year. During his visit, he announced specific plans for future investment directions and corporate operations, including establishing a global production base. This merger between the Indian subsidiaries is part of a strategy to enhance management efficiency and maximize synergy between the two companies. Beyond simple external growth, each company will focus its capabilities on strengthening the local Lotte brand through ▲product portfolio enhancement ▲logistics and production base integration.

Lotte Wellfood entered India in 2004 by acquiring the Indian confectionery company Parrys and renaming it Lotte India, becoming the first domestic food company to enter the Indian market. Lotte India recorded sales of 92.9 billion KRW in 2022 and 103.4 billion KRW in 2023, achieving double-digit growth rates. Havmor holds the number one market share in the ice cream market in western India with sales of 165.6 billion KRW last year. After the merger, the integrated Lotte India corporation aims to secure a virtuous financial structure and achieve annual sales of 1 trillion KRW by aggressively investing to secure future growth engines.

Meanwhile, Lotte Wellfood is strengthening its production capacity through overseas factory expansions and is implementing a thorough localization strategy to enhance the Lotte brand and expand sales in India. Havmor’s new ice cream production facility in Pune, Maharashtra, with an investment of about 70 billion KRW, is set to begin full-scale operations in the second half of the year. The current coverage area, limited to western India, is expected to expand to central and southern regions. Lotte Pepero’s first overseas production base is also under construction at Lotte India’s Haryana factory with an investment of about 33 billion KRW, aiming to start operations in the second half of next year. Following Lotte Choco Pie, localized Lotte Pepero products reflecting local food culture and climate conditions will be developed and launched.

Chang-yeop Lee, CEO of Lotte Wellfood, said, “We have launched the integrated Lotte India corporation with long-term goals such as enhancing the Lotte brand power and securing growth momentum in the Indian market,” adding, “We plan to actively expand our investment in India, a major emerging market with the world’s largest population and high economic growth rate.”

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