Official poster of the 2026 Korea Brand Expo. Photo courtesy of KOTRA
Lotte will host an export consultation event in Madrid, Spain, to support Korean small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) entering the European market.
Lotte said Tuesday it will hold the “2026 Lotte-Korea Brand Expo” in Madrid from November 27 to 29. The Brand Expo is a shared-growth program designed to help domestic SMEs expand overseas sales channels. It is co-hosted by Lotte, the Korea Foundation for Cooperation of Large & Small Business, Rural Affairs (KOFCA), and KOTRA, with sponsorship from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.
Fifty Korean SMEs in the beauty, food, fashion, and lifestyle sectors will participate in the event. These companies will conduct one-on-one export consultations and product exhibitions with about 200 global buyers invited from Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, and other European countries. The consultations will cover not only export feasibility but also consulting on product lineups and marketing strategies tailored to local markets.
Lotte will transform the venue into a pop-up space where visitors can experience K-beauty products firsthand. Designed under the concept of a “Seoul beauty salon,” the space features a welcome lounge, a product experience zone, a consulting lounge, and a culture lounge. Visitors can explore areas organized by product categories such as aesthetics, styling, and therapy, sampling beauty products from Korean SMEs. Buyer consultations will take place in the same space, allowing product experiences to flow directly into export discussions.
Hallyu content will also be featured to promote K-brands. Lotte plans to organize fan meetings with Hallyu artists and K-pop cover dance events, giving local consumers an opportunity to engage with Korean consumer goods and culture together.
The Brand Expo is Lotte’s flagship shared-growth program, launched in 2016. Through last year, it has been held across Asia, Europe, and North and South America, with around 1,500 Korean SMEs participating. The program has generated approximately 11,000 cumulative export consultations and about $1.2 billion in consultation results, equivalent to roughly 1.8 trillion won.
“The Brand Expo is a flagship shared-growth program that supports the overseas expansion of Korean SMEs,” a Lotte official said. “We will continue to actively support Korean companies in expanding their sales channels in Europe and other global markets.”
KOTRA President Kang Kyung-sung said, “This year, we are strengthening cooperation with major retail networks to nurture K-consumer goods as a next-generation export driver.” He added, “To find alternative markets amid the war in the Middle East, we will actively target the European market and work to diversify export destinations.”