Lotte Wellfood facts for kids
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Native name
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롯데웰푸드 주식회사
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Formerly
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Lotte Confectionery (1967-2023) |
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| Traded as | KRX: 280360 |
| Industry | Food |
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| Founder | Shin Kyuk-ho |
| Headquarters | , |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
| Parent | Lotte Corporation |
Lotte Wellfood Co., Ltd. (Hangul: 롯데웰푸드 주식회사) is a big South Korean company that makes yummy snacks and treats. It used to be called Lotte Confectionery. The company's main office is in Seoul, South Korea. It started way back in 1967. Today, Lotte Wellfood is one of the top chewing gum makers in the world. They have factories in many countries like Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Belgium, India, Russia, Myanmar, and China. In 2023, Lotte Confectionery changed its name to Lotte Wellfood after joining with another company called Lotte Foods.
Contents
The Story of Lotte Wellfood
How Lotte Started with Chewing Gum
The story of Lotte begins in Japan after World War II. In 1941, a young man named Shin Kyuk-ho from Korea went to Tokyo to study. After finishing school, he decided to start his own business.
In 1946, Shin Kyuk-ho started a small company that made soaps and cosmetics. This business helped him earn enough money to start something new. Just one year later, he decided to make chewing gum. American soldiers had brought chewing gum to Japan, and it quickly became very popular. So, in 1948, Shin Kyuk-ho started Lotte Co. with only ten employees.
Shin Kyuk-ho named his company "Lotte" because he really liked a character named Charlotte from a famous book called Sorrows of Young Werther. Lotte made many chewing gum brands, like Orange Gum and Baseball Gum. They were one of the first companies in Japan to advertise on TV and even sponsored a baseball team! In 1956, they launched a popular gum called Cool Mint Gum, which had a penguin on the package. This penguin became a very famous logo.
Expanding into Chocolates and More
Lotte soon started making other sweets like candies, cookies, and snack cakes. By the early 1960s, they were a big competitor to other snack companies in Japan. Their biggest success came when they started making chocolate. In 1964, Lotte launched its first milk chocolate called Ghana. They made it in a Swiss style but for Japanese tastes. They advertised it a lot on TV, and it became very popular. By the end of the century, Lotte was the number one chocolate maker in Japan.
Even though Lotte was doing great in Japan, Shin Kyuk-ho didn't forget his Korean roots. Lotte had already started making chewing gum and other snacks in Korea in 1958. When Japan and Korea became closer in 1965, Lotte decided to expand even more in Korea. In 1967, they created a special company just for South Korea called Lotte Confectionery Co.
Growing in South Korea
The South Korean government at that time wanted companies to help build up the country's industries. Shin Kyuk-ho decided to focus Lotte's efforts on food products. After some discussions, Lotte Confectionery became a very important part of Shin Kyuk-ho's growing business empire. Even so, the original Lotte company in Japan remained the biggest part of their snack business until the 1990s.
Becoming a Global Snack Company
In the 1990s and 2000s, Lotte started looking to grow even more around the world. They had already opened a company in the United States in 1978, making chewing gums and cookies.
Later, Lotte expanded to countries closer to home. They opened a company in Thailand in 1989 and in Indonesia in 1993. In 1994, they started a joint company in China to make snacks there. Lotte also expanded to the Philippines in 1995 and Vietnam in 1996.
Lotte kept creating new and exciting products. In 1996, they launched Chocolate Zero, which they said was the world's first sugar-free chocolate. The next year, Lotte was the first in Japan to make chewing gum with xylitol. Xylitol is a special sweetener that doesn't cause cavities, so Lotte could say their gum helped fight tooth decay. They even made a chewing gum in 2005 that helped polish teeth!
In 2002, Lotte also got more involved in making frozen desserts like ice cream. By 2005, Lotte was buying other companies in China to become a major snack company worldwide. Shin Kyuk-ho, along with his family, continued to lead Lotte. In less than 60 years, he built Lotte from a small chewing gum maker into one of the biggest snack companies in the world.
On October 12, 2017, Lotte Confectionery became part of a larger company called Lotte Corporation.
Popular Lotte Products
Lotte makes many different kinds of snacks. You can often find their products in Asian supermarkets around the world.
Sweet Treats
Lotte makes a huge variety of snacks, including chewing gums, candies, cookies, and chocolates. Their Juicy Fresh, Spearmint, and Freshmint chewing gums have been favorites for over 40 years. Their Xylitol chewing gum is also very popular because it helps reduce the risk of tooth decay.
Lotte Wellfood also makes the Crunky candy bar and the Chic-Choc cookie, which is a famous chocolate chip cookie in South Korea. They also bake other snacks like the Margaret cookie. You might know Lotte for their fun cookies called Koala's March. These are small, cream-filled cookies shaped like koalas that come in a cool hexagonal box. Another famous product is Pepero, which are chocolate-covered cookie sticks, similar to Pocky.
To reach more people in China, Lotte has teamed up with Hershey's. In 2008, Lotte also bought Guylian, a company from Belgium that makes delicious chocolates.
Cool Ice Cream
Lotte Wellfood is a big player in Korea's ice cream market. They offer many popular kinds of ice cream, including bars, cones, cups, and big buckets.
Health Boosters
Lotte Wellfood also has a brand called Health 1 that makes health supplements. These products include vitamins, minerals, and extracts from plants like red ginseng to help people stay healthy.
See also
- List of companies of South Korea
- Lotte
