In order to prevent the stealthy price increase known as ‘shrinkflation,’ where menu prices remain unchanged but the product weight is reduced, a new system for indicating the weight of chicken is being implemented.
Today (the 2nd), the Fair Trade Commission, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups jointly announced the ‘Response Plan for Deceptive Practices in Food Volume’ that includes these measures.
For chicken specialty stores, it is mandatory to specify the pre-cooked total weight of the chicken on the menu alongside the price. While it is technically required to label the weight in grams, considering cases where whole chickens are cooked, it is permissible to label them in units like ‘No. 10 (951-1,050g)’.
This labeling system must also be applied to websites or delivery apps for online packaging orders as well.
The chicken weight labeling policy applies to the ten major franchise headquarters and their affiliated franchisees, including BHC, BBQ Chicken, Kyochon Chicken, Cheogajip Seasoned Chicken, Goobne Chicken, Pelicana, Nene Chicken, Mexicana Chicken, Zikoba Chicken, and Hosigi Two Chickens.
There are approximately 12,560 franchise outlets nationwide, which the authorities have assessed to be about a quarter of the total 50,000 chicken specialty stores.
The new system will be implemented starting from the 15th and will be accompanied by regular and ad-hoc inspections.
However, considering the burden on small business owners operating franchises, until the end of June next year, any violations detected will result in guidance on proper display methods rather than penalties.
After this grace period, corrections will be mandated, and repeat offenses may lead to business suspensions.
Retail chicken price increases or weight reductions without price changes will be encouraged to be notified with statements like, “The weight of the boneless combo chicken has been adjusted from 650g to 550g, resulting in a per-gram price increase.”
Notification of such changes is not mandatory and will be left as a self-regulation matter primarily for franchise headquarters.
Instead, the government plans to enhance market monitoring by supporting consumer organizations in purchasing sample chickens from the top five brands, comparing weight and prices, and disclosing the information to help curb deceptive marketing practices.
The regulations around processed food price changes are also being strengthened. For processed foods, the Korea Consumer Agency is monitoring whether 19 manufacturers and eight distributors provide proper information on products that have reduced weight by over 5% leading to a unit price increase, and whether such changes have been notified to consumers for at least three months.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety currently issues corrective orders in case of inadequate notifications, but the level of sanctions will be raised next year to include orders for suspending manufacturing of the problematic product. If a suspension order is given, it will temporarily halt production of the affected product.
The government plans to form a ‘Public-Private Consultative Body for the Food Sector’ (tentative name) with relevant ministries and major food service and manufacturing companies to discuss solutions for stabilizing food prices and monitor voluntary regulation implementation.