Lotte Mart and Lotte Super said on the 27th that cumulative sales of "Oneul Joeun Airy Whole Loaf Bread," jointly launched by Lotte's retail and food affiliates, have surpassed 1 million units in about six months.
Sold at Lotte Mart, Lotte Super and 7-Eleven, the loaf targets value-conscious shoppers by keeping its price at entry level while lifting quality closer to that of specialty bakeries. It has a soft, easy-to-tear texture with a mild sweetness, and is sold as an uncut whole loaf to broaden how it can be used.
Since its launch, the product has sold an average of more than 5,180 units a day — one every 17 seconds — reaching 1 million cumulative units in 193 days. It ranked first in cumulative sales among all bread-loaf products at Lotte Mart and Lotte Super, with volume 3.5 times that of the leading mass-produced loaf it replaced at the top. Over the same period, sales of meal breads at Lotte Mart and Lotte Super rose 30.3% from a year earlier.
The product came out of collaboration among Lotte affiliates. Lotte R&D Center applied a patented lactic acid bacteria fermentation method, and Lotte Wellfood handled large-scale production. Lotte Mart, Lotte Super and 7-Eleven sold it simultaneously as a private-brand item.
Lotte Department Store also helped widen customer exposure by running relay pop-up stores at six locations nationwide, including Lotte World Mall in Jamsil. To mark the 1 million mark, Lotte Mart and Lotte Super will hold a customer appreciation event offering a 10% discount on the bread for two weeks, from the 29th through the 11th of next month.
"Airy Whole Loaf Bread is a flagship product that secured both quality and price competitiveness through collaboration among Lotte affiliates," an official at Lotte Mart and Lotte Super said. "We will continue to develop high-quality, value-for-money products that customers can enjoy without hesitation, and steadily introduce differentiated private-brand items at Lotte Mart and Lotte Super."