A health supplement company supplying popular children’s vitamins like “My Vitamin” was caught by the government for strictly controlling pharmacies’ discount sales. This company employed mystery shoppers to secretly identify pharmacies offering discounts and tracked product barcodes to cut off supplies, engaging in severe unfair practices. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) announced on the 25th that it has imposed corrective orders on Nature’s Farm, a healthcare supplement company, for forcing pharmacies to adhere to designated consumer prices for its products.
Nature’s Farm, a mid-sized business with an annual sales of 24.2 billion won (as of 2024) from about 30 types of products including children’s vitamin “My Vitamin Up” and “Liquid CM Kids,” has been distributing only through pharmacies. From October 2017 to August 2025, they unilaterally designated consumer prices via their member-exclusive online mall’s announcements and group chats on platforms like KakaoTalk and strictly controlled these prices.
The company’s control tactics were particularly meticulous. They encouraged reporting among pharmacies and hired professional “mystery shopper” firms to investigate whether pharmacies were offering discounts. If discounts were detected, the first warning was issued, and upon repeated detection, product supply was completely halted. At least 75 pharmacies had their transactions cut off due to being caught in this surveillance net.
Pharmacies attempting to bypass the control through indirect discount sales had their products’ barcodes and RFID codes meticulously traced to discover the original supply pharmacy and face punishment. Adding to this, the list of pharmacies with suspended transactions was openly shared in group chats involving all pharmacies to publicly humiliate and exert psychological pressure.
The FTC judged these actions as “resale price maintenance,” violating fair trade laws (Article 46) by limiting free price competition in the distribution stage and infringing upon business autonomy. This measure is significant in that it strictly penalized unfair distribution practices that artificially prevent price discounts in the health supplement market, thereby increasing the burden on consumers.