The name "Lotte" doesn't sound Korean. It doesn't sound Japanese either. That's because it's neither — it comes from Charlotte, a character in Goethe's 18th-century German novel The Sorrows of Young Werther.
That a Korean snack empire would be named after a character from German Romantic literature tells you something about its founder: Shin Kyuk-ho was not a conventional man.
A Young Man with Big Dreams
In 1941, 19-year-old Shin Kyuk-ho boarded a ship from Busan to Japan. Korea was under Japanese colonial rule, and Shin had outgrown the family farm. He arrived in Tokyo with almost nothing, dreaming of becoming a novelist.
He didn't become a novelist. Instead, he delivered newspapers and milk, studied at a technical college, and watched carefully as post-war Japan began to rebuild itself.
After World War II ended, Shin saw an opportunity. American soldiers were handing out chewing gum to Japanese children on street corners. Kids loved it. And almost nobody was making it locally.
In 1948, Shin founded Lotte Co., Ltd. in Tokyo — named after his favorite literary character — and started selling chewing gum.
Building an Empire in Japan
It sounds simple, but building a gum business in post-war Japan was anything but easy. Food shortages were widespread. Non-essential goods were a hard sell. But Shin was persistent, and Lotte's gum quickly found its audience among children and young consumers.
By the 1960s, Lotte had become a serious player in the Japanese confectionery market. In 1964, the company launched Ghana chocolate — a milk chocolate bar adapted for Japanese tastes, backed by a major television advertising campaign. It became the best-selling chocolate in Japan, and Lotte became the country's number one chocolate manufacturer by the end of the century.
Not bad for a Korean immigrant who started with chewing gum.
Coming Home — and a Clash with the Government
Although Lotte had been wildly successful in Japan, Shin had never forgotten Korea. As early as 1958, Lotte had opened a small factory in Korea producing gum and confectionery. But when Japan and South Korea normalized diplomatic relations in 1965, a much bigger opportunity opened up.
In 1967, Shin established Lotte Confectionery Co. in Seoul — and immediately ran into trouble.
South Korea at the time was under an authoritarian military government, focused on building up the country's industrial and military strength. The government approached Shin with a direct request: invest in arms production. Help Korea build its defense capacity.
Shin refused.
It was a bold move. The government made life difficult for Lotte Confectionery in response. The standoff was only resolved when President Park Chung-hee intervened personally. The compromise? Shin would not make weapons — but he would commit to moving the center of Lotte's operations to South Korea.
It was a deal that changed the company's future entirely.
Pepero, Choco Pie, and the Snacks Koreans Grew Up With
With its Korean operations now firmly established, Lotte threw itself into building the brands that would define Korean snacking for generations.
In 1979, Lotte launched its own version of the Choco Pie — the chocolate-coated marshmallow cake that Orion had introduced five years earlier. A friendly rivalry between the two versions continues to this day.
Then came Pepero.
Launched in 1983, Pepero — a thin biscuit stick dipped in chocolate — became an instant hit. It was similar in concept to Japan's Pocky, which led to years of friendly (and occasionally legal) debate between the two brands. What makes Pepero truly unique, though, is something no other snack has achieved in Korea: its own national holiday.
November 11 is Pepero Day. On that date — chosen because "11/11" looks like four Pepero sticks standing upright — Koreans exchange boxes of Pepero with friends, family, and romantic partners. More than half of Pepero's entire annual sales happen on a single day.
From Candy to Conglomerate
What makes Lotte's story remarkable isn't just the snacks — it's how far the company traveled from its origins.
Through the 1970s and 1980s, Lotte expanded into hotels, department stores, fast food, and tourism. In 1989, Lotte World opened in Seoul: one of the world's largest indoor theme parks. The Lotte Department Store became Korea's largest retail chain. Lotte Hotel grew into an international hospitality brand.
In 2017, Lotte World Tower was completed in Seoul — the sixth tallest building in the world at the time. Shin had bought the land in Jamsil back in 1987, reportedly saying: "We will build a skyscraper here."
The man who arrived in Tokyo with nothing had built one of Asia's largest conglomerates — starting with a pack of gum.
What Lotte Is Today
Today, Lotte (now officially Lotte Wellfood following a 2023 rebrand) operates in over 60 countries and is the third-largest chewing gum manufacturer in the world. Its snacks — Pepero, Choco Pie, Ghana chocolate, Xylitol gum — are found in Korean households, convenience stores, and snack boxes shipped around the globe.
The founder, Shin Kyuk-ho, passed away in 2020 at the age of 97. He had built his empire across two countries, two languages, and nearly eight decades. He never did write that novel.
But he left behind something more lasting: the snacks that a generation of Koreans grew up eating — and that the rest of the world is only just beginning to discover.
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