South Korean burger franchise Lotteria looks to the US for expansion

South Korea’s fast food franchise Lotteria is planning to enter the United States, home to the world’s best-known burger franchises. 

Lotte GRS Co., short for Global Restaurant Service, is conducting market research on opening up Lotteria locations in the US, according to industry insiders. 

“We figured the intersection between an endemic and the surging demand for Korean food is the right time to enter the US,” an employee of the larger Lotte Group said. “We are doing research on which geographic area is the best.”

The fast food market in the US is around $273.2 billion, approximately 90 times bigger than that of Korea. 

In addition to the burger franchises that have become household names, regional heavyweights are also raking in the dough. 

McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s are present across the country. On the East Coast, Five Guys and Shake Shack are the regional winners while In-N-Out and Super Duper Burgers are hot on the West Coast. 

Excluding In-N-Out, most of the popular US burger franchises have either entered or will enter the Korean market. 

Lotteria is betting on Korean flavors that the big American burger chains don't yet have, such as bulgogi burgers, deep-fried shrimp burgers and burgers with rice buns.

The company is especially bullish on highlighting the use of Hanwoo beef: Hanwoo being a breed of small cattle native to the Korean Peninsula.

Mom’s Touch is a Korean chicken burger chain that has already landed on US soil and opened its second location in California last year. 

If and when Lotteria succeeds in the US, experts say it would boost the overall morale of Lotte Inc., which has been focusing its expansion efforts mostly in Southeast Asia after folding its department store business in China.

Domestic demand for Lotteria burgers is sliding. Its sales were behind that of McDonald’s and its number of franchises trailed those of Mom’s Touch last year. 

Write to Soo-Jung Ha at agatha77@hankyung.com
Jee Abbey Lee edited this article.