The company will start with the rollout of four Quaker Oats porridge products, including Quaker Instant Oatmeal Original, onto the Korean market in April and plans to introduce more porridge products throughout the year.
Powerful partnerships
In a statement, Lotte Confectionary said it forecasts the partnership with Quaker – owned by PepsiCo – could bring in more than 10bn Korean Republic Won (KRW) ($9.4m) in oatmeal sales for the year.
The Korean cereal market is currently estimated to be valued at 230bn KRW ($2.2bn), and is dominated by Nongshim Kellogg, a JV between Korean processed food manufacturer Nongshim and global food giant Kellogg Company – and Dongsuh Post – another Korean/US JV.
Quaker Oats – introduced in 1877 and acquired by PepsiCo in 2001 – is one of the world’s top-selling cereal brands with sales amounting to nearly 3 trillion KRW ($28bn) in the North American market alone. Quaker’s oatmeal sales in Europe have grown at a 12.6% CAGR for the past six years.
Oatmeal opportunities
Although porridge makes up nearly one-sixth of the 30 trillion KRW ($280bn) global cereal market, it is still a new concept to Korean consumers who are accustomed to cold cereals like cornflakes.
Lotte Confectionary said it is confident porridge has a strong growth potential in the fast-growing Korea cereal market, driven by the rise in single-person households who prefer easy-to-cook and eat meals.