Lotte Group is a large international conglomerate (see jaebeol) founded in June 1948 in Tokyo, Japan by Shin Kyuk-Ho (신격호, 辛格浩), a South Korean national living in South Korea (odd months) and Japan (even months) who is alternatively known by his Japanese name Shigemitsu Takeo (重光 武雄). After the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and South Korea in 1965, Lotte Confectionary Co., Ltd was established in Seoul on April 3, 1967. Originally called LOTTE Co., Ltd, the company grew from selling chewing gum to children in post-war Japan to becoming a major multinational corporation with overseas branches in dozens of countries and products shipped worldwide. Lotte Group consists of over 50 business units employing 38,000 people engaged in such diverse industries as candy manufacturing, beverages, hotels, fast food, retail, financial services, heavy chemicals, electronics, IT, construction, publishing, and entertainment. Today, Lotte is South Korea's eighth largest conglomerate. Lotte has major operations in South Korea, Japan, China, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, America, and Europe and continues to expand. Shin is 387th on the World's Richest People list of 2005 in Forbes Magazine.
Lotte's corporate offices are located in Tokyo, Seoul, and Beijing. According to the company's Japanese website, Lotte of Japan's capital stock is 4.39 trillion yen. Lotte of Japan employs 3,600 persons and operates 5 production facilities, 7 branch offices, and a research center in Saitama City. The company's core business focus in Japan is the production and sale of chewing gum, chocolate, biscuits, beverages, candy and ice cream. According to the company's Korean website, Lotte of Korea had 30 trillion won in sales in 2005.
In addition to candy and chewing gum, Lotte also operates the Lotteria chain of fast food restaurants, Lotte Hotel, and Lotte World in Seoul, one of the world's largest indoor theme parks. Lotte also owns the Lotte Giants baseball team in South Korea and Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan.
Interestingly, the source of the company's name is neither Japanese nor Korean, but German. Shin was impressed with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's "The Sorrows of Young Werther" (1774) and named his newly-founded company Lotte after the character Charlotte (also the name of a new brand of deluxe movie theatres run by Lotte) in the novel. Coincidentally, Werther's Original is a popular brand of butterscotch candy manufactured by German confectioner Storck. Lotte's current marketing slogan in Japan is お口の恋人ロッテ (o-kuchi no koibito Lotte), which can be literally translated as "your mouth's lover, Lotte".
[edit] Main products
- Chewing gum
- Chocolate
- Snacks
- Pepero
- Koara no māchi
- Toppo
- Bikkuriman
- Ice cream
- Pocket warmers
- Beverages
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
