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🇰🇷 South Korea /Economy & Trade

Seoul Beauty Salons Pop Up in Madrid as Lotte Expands European Reach with SMEs

From Dong-A Ilbo · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Lotte is partnering with 50 small and medium-sized South Korean companies to expand their reach into the European market.
  • The '2026 Lotte-Korea Brand Expo' in Madrid will feature K-beauty, fashion, and food products, with 200 European buyers attending for one-on-one consultations.
  • The event aims to foster mutually beneficial growth by leveraging Lotte's global infrastructure to support smaller businesses, building on a decade-long initiative that has generated over $1.2 billion in export consultations.

Lotte is spearheading an initiative to open European markets for 50 South Korean small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) at the '2026 Lotte-Korea Brand Expo' in Madrid. The event, scheduled for three days starting May 27, is co-organized with the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency and KOTRA, with policy support from government ministries.

The expo will showcase competitive K-beauty, fashion, food, and lifestyle products from the participating SMEs. Over 200 global buyers, carefully selected from Europe, will engage in one-on-one export consultations. Beyond product introductions, the event will offer tailored consulting to help companies navigate local regulations and distribution channels.

We will foster K-consumer goods as a next-generation export driver by linking them with large distribution networks and actively target the European market to diversify export destinations in response to geopolitical risks.

· Kang Kyung-sungKOTRA President Kang Kyung-sung on the strategy to boost South Korean exports.

The exhibition space is designed with a unique concept called 'Seoul Hair Salon' to offer a direct experience of Korean beauty to local Spaniards. Visitors can immerse themselves in products through segmented experience zones for aesthetics, styling, and therapy. The event will also integrate cultural content, such as K-pop cover dances and artist fan meetings, to connect the Hallyu wave with business opportunities.

Since its inception in 2016, the Brand Expo has become an annual model for mutual growth, utilizing large corporations' global infrastructure to create overseas sales channels for SMEs. To date, over 1,500 companies have participated, accumulating approximately $1.2 billion in export consultation performance. KOTRA President Kang Kyung-sung stated the goal is to cultivate K-consumer goods as a next-generation export driver by linking them with major distribution networks and diversify export destinations by actively targeting the European market to counter geopolitical risks. A Lotte representative pledged to build a continuous co-growth ecosystem to help companies with excellent technology gain self-sufficiency on the global stage.

We will build a continuous co-growth ecosystem to help companies with excellent technology gain self-sufficiency on the global stage.

· Lotte representativeA Lotte representative's commitment to supporting participating companies.
About this summary

Originally published by Dong-A Ilbo in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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