Establishment of Health Functional Food Corporation
HPO Joint Venture 'The Edition Health'
Lotte Homeshopping announced on the 24th that it will establish a joint venture, "The Edition Health," with health functional food specialist HPO to develop and sell premium protein health foods.
The two companies will establish the joint venture and actively enter the business of jointly developing, manufacturing, and selling protein health functional food brands. Lotte Homeshopping and HPO will jointly invest to raise a total capital of 2 billion KRW.
Lotte Homeshopping is establishing a joint venture, "The Edition Health," with health functional food specialist HPO to develop and sell premium protein health products. (From left: Min Taek-geun, CEO of HPO; Kim Jae-gyeom, CEO of Lotte Homeshopping) [Photo by Lotte Homeshopping]
This investment was made to develop high-profit products through collaboration with a specialized partner and to jointly nurture a competitive mega brand. HPO will be responsible for product planning, raw material sourcing, and marketing, while Lotte Homeshopping will support broadcast sales and entry into Lotte Group affiliates.
Lotte Homeshopping decided to enter the protein business through the joint venture as the demand for protein supplements among its main TV home shopping customers in their 50s and 60s is rapidly increasing. The domestic protein food market size is expected to grow from 450 billion KRW in 2023 to 800 billion KRW in 2026.
The company aims for annual sales of 100 billion KRW by 2028. Starting with the launch of a premium protein brand, it plans to diversify product lines such as protein bars and beverages and expand into protein-based healthcare business areas. In August, "The Edition Health" will launch its first product, the premium health functional food "Denmark Protein Story." To solve the freshness degradation issue during raw material import, the finished products will be directly imported from Denmark where they are produced.
The signing ceremony held on the 21st at HPO’s office in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, was attended by Kim Jae-gyeom, CEO of Lotte Homeshopping, Min Taek-geun, CEO of HPO, and other officials.
Meanwhile, HPO was established in 2012 and owns the health functional food brand "Denfps," which uses European raw materials. It also operates health functional food manufacturer "Biopharm" and others. Representative products include the capsule probiotic "Denmark Probiotic Story," which has sold over 15 million units, and the vitamin "True Vitamin."
Kim Jae-gyeom, CEO of Lotte Homeshopping, said, “Focusing on the growth potential of the premium protein market, we established a joint venture with HPO, which has excellent capabilities in producing health functional foods, and entered the protein health food market. We plan to expand our business scope starting with the launch of the premium protein brand to create synergy.”
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