Lotte Wellfood (formerly known as Lotte Confectionery) announced on Jan. 23 that it has begun to expand its exports to Mexico and Canada by entering and selling Zero and Crispy Rolls to Costco in Mexico and Pepero to Costco in Canada.
Costco is a global distribution channel that operates 872 stores worldwide with 40 and 108 stores in Mexico and Canada, respectively. Lotte Wellfood plans to use this as an opportunity to expand exports as it has succeeded in entering major products into Costco as a result of its steady efforts.
In particular, this is the first time a Korea confectionery company has entered Costco in Mexico. Lotte Wellfood is already present in local distribution channels in Mexico such as Walmart, H.I.B., Liverpool, and Grupo Sanchez in Mexico. This time Lotte Wellfood has become the first Korean confectionery company to export its products to Costco in Mexico.
The exported products to be sold at Costco Canada are three -- Almond Pepero, White Pepero, and Crunchy Pepero. Lotte Wellfood is also working to promote its brand in the Americas by running outdoor advertisements in New York’s Times Square and Los Angeles with the K-pop girl group NewJeans as models, in line with last year’s Pepero Day (Nov. 11) among others.
This entry into all Costco stores in Canada is expected to give strong momentum to Lotte Wellfood’s promoting of its brand. Previously, the brand was only present in local distribution channels such as Walmart, Roblox, and Dollar Tree in Canada.
“It was a big challenge to carry out business activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” a Lotte Well Food official said. “But our steady efforts finally paid off. We will continue to export various products to the Americas.”