Business Agreement Signed at Asahi Group Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan
Targeting Annual Sales of 30 Billion KRW by 2028
Lotte Homeshopping announced on the 12th that it is entering the health functional food ingredient business in partnership with Japan's Asahi Group Foods.
Lotte Homeshopping signed a business agreement (MOU) on the 11th with Asahi Group Foods of Japan for the "exclusive supply and sale of health functional food ingredients." (From left: Kim Jae-gyeom, CEO of Lotte Homeshopping; Hiroshi Kawahara, CEO of Asahi Group Foods)
On the 11th, Lotte Homeshopping and Asahi Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the "exclusive supply and sale of health functional food ingredients."
The signing ceremony held at Asahi Group's headquarters in Sumida-ku, Tokyo, Japan, was attended by Kim Jaegyeom, CEO of Lotte Homeshopping; Kawahara Hiroshi, CEO of Asahi Group Foods Japan; Hayashi Kazuhiro, General Manager; and other officials. According to the agreement, Asahi Group Foods will exclusively provide its self-developed health functional food ingredients, and Lotte Homeshopping will utilize the imported ingredients for sales and product development.
Both companies expect synergy from the combination of the global company Asahi Group Foods' technological capabilities and Lotte Homeshopping's distribution know-how. Lotte Homeshopping plans to exclusively import six types of health functional food ingredients developed by Asahi Group Foods by 2028 and expand its business model through business-to-business (B2B) sales. They also aim to develop and sell health functional foods using the exclusive ingredients, targeting annual sales of 30 billion KRW by 2028.
Founded in 2015, Asahi Group Foods is a food subsidiary of the Asahi Group and the number one player in Japan's health food market. Based on its proprietary technology, it has developed 15 health functional food ingredients and achieved sales of approximately 1.3 trillion KRW last year through product development and sales.
Lotte Homeshopping views the health functional food business as a future growth engine. In June, Lotte Homeshopping established a joint venture, The Edition Health, with the health functional food specialist company HPO to develop and sell premium protein. The domestic health functional food market size was 6.2 trillion KRW last year, an increase of about 27% compared to 2019, and during the same period, Lotte Homeshopping's orders for health functional foods from customers aged 55 and older increased by about 70%. Lotte Homeshopping decided to enter the health functional food ingredient business, anticipating continuous growth in the health functional food market centered on the elderly.
Kim Jaegyeom, CEO of Lotte Homeshopping, said, "Focusing on the growth potential of the health functional food market, we have entered the market through collaboration with the global company Asahi Group Foods, which possesses specialized technological capabilities. Starting with the exclusive import and sale of ingredients owned by Asahi Group Foods, we plan to expand our business areas and create synergy."
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