Lotte Food Invests 6.5 Billion KRW in 'Food Assemble' to Strengthen Meal Kit Business Foundation

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] Lotte Foods announced on the 11th that it will make a strategic investment (SI) worth 6.5 billion KRW in the startup 'Food Assemble,' which has the second to third largest meal kit production capacity in Korea.

With this investment, Lotte Foods plans to acquire a 19.6% stake in Food Assemble and actively strengthen its mid- to long-term meal kit business capabilities. Food Assemble, established in 2018, is a specialized meal kit manufacturer. It has over 150 recipes and plans to achieve sales of 40 billion KRW this year. In January, it completed its third factory in Gijang-gun, Busan Metropolitan City, securing production capacity ranked second to third in the industry.

This year, Lotte Foods officially entered the meal kit market by launching 'Chefood Meets the Seasons' in collaboration with Professor Han Young-sil's Customized Food Research Lab at Sookmyung Women's University. The frozen meal kits use seasonal ingredients, offering good preservation and easy cooking anytime. The ingredients retain their freshness through the 'Tunnel Quick Freezing (TQF)' technology, which rapidly freezes food by passing it through an ultra-low temperature tunnel below -40℃. After thawing, a simple 15-minute cooking process allows for an elegant meal to be easily prepared.

A Lotte Foods official said, “The key success factor in the meal kit business is rapid product in and out (In&Out) to meet consumer preferences and respond to distribution clients,” adding, “Through this equity investment, we will strengthen our partnership with Food Assemble to complement the capabilities needed for mid- to long-term growth in the meal kit business.”