Korea’s number 1 biscuit snack brand Lotte Pepero is now in India

Milan Wahi, MD, Lotte India, at the launch of Lotte Pepero, Korea’s biscuit snack brand in India.
| Photo Credit:
BIJOY GHOSH

After the success of Choco Pie that was launched in 2006 in India, Lotte India, a part of Korea’s major Lotte Group, is now introducing Pepero – Korea’s number 1 biscuit brand – in the country. The company feels the rising demand for Korean products in the country along with growing fan base for K-dramas, K-pop and Korean beauty, will pep up the sales of Pepero.

The company has invested ₹475 crore for capex in its Rohtak plant to manufacture Pepero and to set up a warehouse facility, Milan Wahi, Managing Director, Lotte India, told newspersons, on Thursday.

Korean snacks like Pepero will become more popular among urban, young and aspirational consumers. The chocolate-coated biscuit sticks, Lotte Pepero, will be a big hit among Gen Z and millennial consumers, he added.

Lotte Pepero will be available in two variants – Original and Crunchy, and in trial packs and regular packs with price ranging from ₹20 to ₹70, he said.

“What Lotte will be selling here is slightly sweeter compared to the variant sold in Korea. The company worked on the product for nearly two years keeping in mind Indian preferences – Indians generally prefer slightly sweeter snacks. This is a ‘made in India’ product and also marks Lotte India’s entry into the biscuit snack category,” he said. In future, the company will consider introducing new variants, say kulfi or coffee, to suit the local needs, he added.

In the confectionery space, the company’s products include Coffy Bite, Coconut Punch, Caramilk, Lacto King, Jellies, Lollipops and Eclairs. The products reach out to over a million retail outlets through 2,000 distributors spread across the country, he said.

Wahi said for CY2025, Lotte India expects to report revenue of ₹2,000 crore (confectionery will contribute ₹800 crore and ice-cream (Havmor) ₹1,200 crore). This is against ₹1,750 crore in the CY2024 (confectionary contributing ₹720 crores and Havmor ₹1,030 crore), he said.

In CY2027, Lotte India’s revenue target ₹3000 crores of which confectionery will contribute ₹1250 crores and ice-cream ₹1,750 crores, he said.

For Lotte India, its best selling product – Choco Pie – has a large fan club in rural Odisha, where it is used as a birthday cake instead of the usual cake.

“When the number was increasing substantially in Odisha, we did a survey and found interesting story in rural areas. They cannot afford a cake. So they bought one Choco Pie for the birthday, put a candle and used it as a cake. This concept spread across rural Odisha. We used this as a good marketing tool and spread the word across the State. Today the biggest market for the rural is Orissa. The East is the number one market for Choco Pie,” he said.

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Published on July 24, 2025

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