Lotte Mart debuts in Singapore with K-grocery store
Korean retail giant Lotte Mart is entering the Singaporean market for the first time, led by its private brand products.
The supermarket chain announced Thursday the opening of its first Korean grocery specialty store, Lotte Mart Express, at the FairPrice Xtra VivoCity branch, operated by Singapore's largest retailer, NTUC FairPrice.
Unlike the traditional method of overseas expansion through direct store openings, the store operates in a "shop-in-shop" format to help secure a stable profit structure and raise brand awareness.
The opening ceremony was attended by Shin Yoo-yeol, the eldest son of Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin and head of the Future Strategy Office at Lotte Holdings; Kang Sung-hyun, CEO of Lotte Mart; and Vipul Chawla, CEO of NTUC FairPrice Group.
The 149-square-meter store features a wide range of Lotte Mart's private brand products, including processed foods and ready-to-cook meals under its brand, Yorihada.
The special deli section, Yorihada Kitchen, includes an open kitchen and dining area, offering popular Korean dishes like tteokbokki, gimbap and fried chicken. According to Lotte Mart, the recipes were developed by chefs at its Food Innovation Center to deliver authentic Korean flavors.
Lotte Mart also announced plans to supply its PB food products to more than 100 FairPrice stores across Singapore.
The store includes a dedicated Lotte Zone that highlights popular PB items along with signature products from Lotte Wellfood and Lotte Chilsung. Over 100 PB products will be on display, along with classic Korean favorites like Pepero, Choco Pie and Chilsung Cider.
Customers can also enjoy an on-site ramyeon and browse through top products from well-known Korean food brands like CJ and Ottogi.
The entry into Singapore marks the first expansion of Lotte Mart's Southeast Asian retail territory in 17 years.
Since opening its first stores in Indonesia and Vietnam in 2008, Lotte Mart has continuously expanded its operations, currently running 48 and 15 stores in each country.
As a result of directly integrating Korean grocery stores into local markets, sales at Southeast Asian branches in the first quarter of this year rose by 9.5 percent and operating profit by 20.6 percent.
'Lotte Mart Express is a store where Lotte's leading retail and food companies synergize to present the taste and culture of Korea,' Lotte Mart CEO Kang Sung-hyun said. 'Based on over 20 years of overseas business experience, Lotte Mart plans to successfully establish itself in the Singapore market, promote K-food and create a future hub for PB exports in Southeast Asia.'
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