Lotte Confectionery increasing prices by 9.4% as overheads rise

Lotte Confectionery said yesterday it will raise the prices of 14 of its confectionery products including cookies and chocolate by an average of 9.4 percent this month.

The company that because of rising raw material costs it is increasing its factory prices for retailers. Its Custard product will go up 7.1 percent and Margaret, a kind of cookie, 2.9 percent.

For three other products, including Ssalobyul, a snack that tastes like rice, it has reduced the weight while maintaining the same price.

It said the price hike was inevitable due to the skyrocketing prices of various raw materials as well as selling and administrative expenses, which caused operating profit to drop 28.1 percent in the first half from a year earlier.

“The company has decided it can no longer shoulder the burden of the rising costs,” said an employee at Lotte Confectionery.

Lotte raised the price of its flagship cookie Zec by 20 percent to 1,200 won ($1.08) on Sept. 1.
Yonhap