EMD welcomes a new prominent partner: Lotte from South Korea is now joining the International Trade Alliance as an associate member

With the heavyweight Lotte in its ranks, EMD is gaining even more momentum. The Lotte Group conglomerate manages its business volume from two headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, and Seoul, South Korea. Having started out as a manufacturer of chewing gum, chocolate and ice cream, the company now operates in 30 countries and is active in retail, chemicals, construction, tourism and services. The main focus is on food, beverages and retail which alone contribute around 20 billion euros to the Lotte Group's total turnover of over 50 billion euros. The Lotte portfolio also includes a well-known European confectionery brand such as Guylian from Belgium.

Recognising and leveraging intercontinental opportunities, opening access to new markets and working closely with EMD procurement teams 

In accordance with the EMD Partnership Statutes, consumers in Asia and Europe can now also benefit from this new intercontinental cooperation. For the EMD member companies already involved, there will be more opportunities to source and market interesting product concepts in Asia, while Lotte's purchasing teams will gain new and valuable access to European manufacturers and their goods business.

By joining forces and working closely with EMD's headquarters in Pfäffikon, Switzerland, new opportunities can be developed in all international sourcing and sales markets.

Lotte firmly established itself as one of the prominent players in South Korea

Lotte's very high status in its Asian home markets is illustrated by the following key figures: with more than 1,100 stores of all sizes, the retail division Lotte Mart & Super in South Korea, Vietnam and Indonesia generates an annual turnover of around 12 billion euros. In South Korea itself, the company is a major player with 60 department stores (one of the world's largest department stores is located on the outskirts of Seoul, covering 246,000 square metres), 161 hypermarkets and 400 supermarkets. The joint venture with convenience store specialist 7-Eleven, which operates nearly 14,000 stores in South Korea, is also significant. Lotte procures goods for this dense distribution network. One of the objectives of the ongoing cooperation with the EMD alliance for Lotte is the targeted expansion of the private label range. While these private label products currently account for 6 per cent of the total range, Lotte can now work with EMD's private label department, which has extensive experience and proven expertise in developing successful private labels.   

"We warmly welcome the new associate member Lotte to our intercontinental alliance and look forward to a successful collaboration," states Philippe Gruyters, Managing Director of EMD. "We at Lotte are also extremely happy about the business partnership that has now been agreed; EMD was our partner of choice from the very beginning," emphasises Sunghyun Kang, CEO of Lotte Mart and Lotte Super.

Note: The company name "Lotte" can be traced back to the admiration of the then South Korean company founder for the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and his main character Lotte in the novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther".

The member companies of European Marketing Distribution (EMD) are active in the following markets:

Australia: Woolworths	Norway: Unil/NorgesGruppen AS
Austria: MARKANT Österreich GmbH	Portugal: EuromadiPort
Czech Republic: MARKANT	Slovakia: MARKANT
Denmark: Dagrofa a/s	South Korea: Lotte
Germany: MARKANT	Spain: Euromadi
Italy: ESD Italia S.r.l.	Sweden: Dagab/Axfood
New Zealand: Countdown (Woolworths)	Switzerland: MARKANT
Netherlands: C.I.V Superunie B.A.

In addition to South Korea and Japan, the newly associated member Lotte is also active in the retail business in China, Vietnam and Indonesia.

EMD also partners with the Belgian Colruyt Group for the international procurement of private-label products. Colruyt is active in France and Luxembourg, as well as in its home country.