Baemin faces backlash over new 'takeout' fee for restaurants

Business owners using Baedal Minjok protest in front of Woowa Brothers' office in Seoul, Feb. 24, demanding the company propose a less financially prohibitive solution for restaurants using the country's largest food ordering online platform. Yonhap

By Ko Dong-hwan

• Published Apr 15, 2025 3:50 PM KST

Businesses choose other platforms with lower fees

Woowa Brothers, operator of the country’s largest online food delivery platform Baedal Minjok, or Baemin, has faced backlash after introducing an additional fee for takeout orders charged to business users.

The new fee, which took effect Monday, has drawn criticism primarily from businesses that depend on the platform for orders. They say the additional fee will further shrink their profitability, describing the measure as unfair.

Woowa Brothers, owned by German food delivery giant Delivery Hero, started charging its business members a 6.8 percent fee Monday for each takeout order received through the platform. Takeout orders account for about 5 percent of the platform’s transactions, with the remainder consisting of doorstep deliveries. Each delivery order through the platform charges businesses up to 7.8 percent.

There is also a separate “payment fee” for the businesses up to 3 percent. For a 20,000 won ($14.05) takeout order, the businesses now must pay up to 1,960 won to Woowa Brothers.

Businesses using Baemin, upset with the new fee, have begun posting online about their decisions to stop using the platform, saying they can no longer manage the increased cost. They said they will or have already switched to other platforms.

The CEO of a gimbap franchise company here said on Instagram he has terminated his partnership with Baemin. He said that with Woowa Brothers’ revised platform usage fees, his business cannot make money unless he raises consumer prices.

“I don’t want to raise our retail prices to share my burden with our consumers. So starting May 1, our business no longer sells through Baemin," the restaurateur said.

"Our business remains operational as we’ll use other platforms to receive delivery or takeout orders. Although I may get fewer orders than before and become cash-strapped, I won't betray my customers' faith in our prices.”

Disgruntled business owners have begun sharing information about alternative online food ordering platforms with lower usage fees, such as Ddangyo. They have also circulated comparisons of platform fees among services like Yogiyo, Coupang Eats and Baedal Yangsan, accusing Baemin of engaging in “unfair practices on the back of its dominant consumer base in the industry.”

Groups representing restaurants and other small- and medium-sized enterprises that rely on major online platforms for sales have also criticized Woowa Brothers.

The Korea Foodservice Industry Association denounced Baemin’s new takeout fee as “nonsense,” stating that the rate is “too high” and places an added burden on struggling businesses.

“For a company that signed an agreement with food businesses for mutual growth, the measure is not reasonable at all,” said Kim Seung-il from the association’s policy development division, referring to a joint agreement between the government, platform operators and platform-using businesses reached in November.

“With the total fees per order to Woowa Brothers now around 10 percent, most businesses are struggling to turn a profit due to other operational costs such as rent, wages, ingredient prices and store maintenance,” the association said.

“However, many businesses cannot afford to abandon Baemin because of its massive market share here. The only way for businesses to avoid platform usage fees is by receiving orders directly through phone calls.”

In response, Woowa Brothers said businesses using the platform that receive either takeout or delivery orders (using their own riders) are charged the same 6.8 percent usage fee as a “surcharge for the platform's commission service.” However, businesses without their own riders are charged a platform usage fee of up to 7.8 percent plus an additional delivery fee ranging from 1,900 won to 3,400 won.

They added the payment fee charged to businesses is for card firms or other payment gateway companies.

Woowa Brothers posted sales of 4.32 trillion won last year, marking a 26.6 percent increase from the previous year, along with an operating profit of 640 billion won.