[Next FTA] 6: Despite "Halal Certification" Confusion... Indonesia's Halal Authority: "Learn from K-Mart"

Lotte Mart Wins Recognition from Indonesia’s Halal Authority
Products Visually Inspected and Restocked... Preparing for Mandatory Halal Certification
Halal Rules, Non-Tariff Barriers and Local Production Key to Expanding K-Food Exports

Lotte Mart’s Gandaria City branch, located in South Jakarta, Indonesia, is on the mall’s basement level 1. During the day, it is frequented by office workers stopping in for a meal; in the evening, middle-class consumers visit after shopping at the mall to pick up groceries before heading home. More than 80% of its customers are local residents. At the store entrance, Lotte Mart has set up eight outlets of its Yorihada food court, which sells tteokbokki, fried snacks, ramen, chicken, pizza and other foods. All eight outlets are halal-certified, meaning they do not use pork or other foods or ingredients prohibited for Muslims.

Consumers browse products at the Lotte Mart Gandaria City branch, visited on the 20th of last month. Photo by Joo Sangdon.

◆“Halal from A to Z”... Lotte Mart wins praise from Indonesia’s halal agency= The Indonesian government had initially planned to require halal certification and labeling for imported foods, cosmetics and health supplements starting October 18, 2026, and to require non-halal products to be labeled separately. Products containing pork were also to be labeled separately. However, one day before the rules were due to take effect, the government postponed the requirements by two years, citing insufficient preparation and other reasons. Lotte Mart had made extensive preparations ahead of the mandate. The company operates 12 retail stores and 36 wholesale stores across Indonesia, ranking third in the local hypermarket market behind Hypermart, with a 40% share, and Transmart, with 35%. It prepared especially thoroughly, recognizing that it could serve as a model for halal certification readiness among foreign retailers. Starting a month before the mandate was due to take effect, it deployed 4,000 store employees and 50 head office staff to conduct a comprehensive inspection. Although manufacturers, not retailers, are responsible for halal certification, Lotte Mart continued its preparations, contacting the halal agency almost every day.

Song Yanghyeon, head of Lotte Mart’s Indonesian subsidiary, expressed confidence, saying, “Although the certification mandate has been postponed by two years, Lotte Mart has already completed its preparations.” Ahmad Haikal Hassan, head of Indonesia’s Halal Product Assurance Agency (BPJPH), also visited a Lotte Mart store in Indonesia ahead of the mandate and praised the company, saying, “Lotte Mart is halal from A to Z.” In June last year, Lotte Mart became the first Indonesian retailer to obtain halal certification for all of its stores.

At the Lotte Mart Gandaria City store on the 20th of last month, Kim Moonsoo, head of Lotte Mart's Indonesian subsidiary, explains preparations for the halal certification system. Photo by Joo Sangdon

◆500 products moved to a separate area... 435 removed from stores=Kim Moonsoo, head of Lotte Mart’s Indonesian subsidiary, explained, “Products without a halal logo or bearing an old logo could not be verified using system records alone, so we had to visually inspect the packaging of the actual products on store shelves. Based on the findings, we sent official notices to suppliers about how to handle the products and also checked whether each product was registered in our internal halal registration system.” Lotte Mart displayed around 500 products containing pork or alcohol in a separate area and removed 435 of them from its stores. However, after the mandate was postponed by two years, the company put those products back on the shelves.

“The head of the halal agency even mentioned Lotte Mart by name, saying, ‘No local business has reached this level,’” Kim said. “Halal is not just a system but a way of life for Indonesians. Building on these preparations, we will further strengthen the trust of local consumers.”

On the 19th of last month, Shin Donghee, head of the Jakarta office of the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT), explains the status of K-food exports at his office. Photo by Joo Sangdon.

◆Expanding K-food exports hinges on addressing halal rules and non-tariff barriers, and on local production=K-food remains popular in Indonesia, but export growth is slowing. K-food exports, excluding seafood, surged from $146 million in 2015 to $243 million in 2021. However, growth has since slowed, with exports reaching $246 million in 2023 and $258 million in 2025. Exports totaled $170 million from January through September this year, down more than 10% from the same period a year earlier. Exports of beverages and strawberries increased, but those of tobacco and coffee preparations (creamer) fell by 62.4% and 17.8%, respectively.

Shin Donghee, head of the Jakarta office of the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT), said, “To expand K-food exports, it is important to minimize the impact of Korean companies’ expansion of local production and to respond to the Indonesian government’s tightening of non-tariff barriers. We will work to revive export growth by strengthening monitoring, providing information and supporting certification to prevent harm to exporters, while also helping companies build scale to improve price competitiveness, identify major local buyers and make use of online distribution.”

Supported by: Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and Korea Rural Economic Institute

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.