Lotte Wellfood to invest $300 mn in India for capacity, supply chain growth

The merger of Lotte India and Havmor Ice Cream India to be completed in March

Lotte Wellfood, a South Korean confectionery company, on Thursday announced the inauguration of one of its largest ice cream manufacturing facilities in Pune, with an annual production capacity of 50 million litres.

 

The parent company of Havmor Ice Cream India, Lotte Wellfood had invested Rs 500 crore in this manufacturing plant and will continue to invest about $300 million in capacity and supply chain expansion in India over the next three to five years, said Paul Yi, chief executive officer (CEO), Lotte Wellfood, in a media roundtable interaction.

 

Earlier, in August 2024, Lotte Wellfood announced the merger of its Indian subsidiaries, Lotte India and Havmor Ice Cream India, with the aim of achieving Rs 6,000 crore in sales. Yi expects the merger to be completed in March this year.

 

 

Currently, the revenue for Havmor Ice Cream India is around $200 million, and it has about a 5 per cent market share in the Indian ice cream market, with a majority of its business concentrated in Gujarat and other central areas. On the other hand, Lotte India generates revenue of $150 million.

 

The Seoul-headquartered company is also planning to bring its other food products, such as cakes, cookies, biscuits, and other snacks, to Indian consumers.

 

“In July, we will be introducing and launching our number-one branded confectionery snack in South Korea, called Lotte Peppero, as a K-snack for our Indian consumers. It is a biscuit stick dipped in chocolate with additions like almond and rice krispies,” said Yi.

 

It will be produced for the first time outside South Korea in Haryana. The product will be accessible to all consumer bases, with a price range of Rs 30 to Rs 70 in July.

 

Komal Anand, managing director (MD), Havmor Ice Cream India, said that the company will launch India’s first four-layered ice cream with a completely automated packing and production line through Lotte’s technology before the summer season.

 

Apart from this, Havmor Ice Cream India is the ice cream partner of the Indian Premier League (IPL) team Gujarat Titans.

 

“We have also got some exciting innovations for the IPL, which will go into the market in February. It's a special pack we are launching for the IPL, along with some other exciting plans for summer,” Anand added.

 

The Pune plant has the potential to expand up to 100 million litres in subsequent years, as per the company’s statement. This gives the company access to an extensive distribution network in India.

 

“With Havmor Ice Cream India expanding far beyond Gujarat and its presence in many other parts of India, the demand to partner with us as distributors throughout the country is tremendous. After Pune, we are also looking to expand to Bengaluru and Chennai,” Yi added.

 

He added that the idea of setting up manufacturing plants is to first cater to domestic consumers and then focus on export facilities. However, the company has plans to establish export facilities from the Pune plant to the Middle East and possibly the African region.

 

“What is more exciting is that the entire Indian ice cream market size is about $3 billion, and compared to this, China’s ice cream market size is about $23 billion. As India’s consumer base expands and evolves, it will certainly approach the Chinese market size,” Yi explained.