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McDonald's, Lotteria plagued by potato shortages

Lotteria's online notification apologizing to customers for replacing French fries due to a potato shortage / Screenshot from Lotteria's mobile applicationBy Kim Jae-heunMcDonald's Korea and Lotteria are suffering from potato shortages, scrambling to replace their French fries with chicken nuggets or cheese sticks due to climate change and supply chain problems amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to company officials, Friday. More consumers, as a result, are expressing frustrations over the changes, as both hamburger franchises have been changing their menus frequently, as seen in their response to the previous tomato and lettuce supply crisis.Lotteria posted an online notification that some of its restaurants may replace French fries with other sides due to the shortage. McDonald's has also been sharing a similar post asking for customers' understanding. “Lotteria French fries are my favorite and that is why I eat there. But the restaurant chain has been offering cheese sticks instead of French fries occasionally in the past two years and I am getting sick of it,” a 27

Apr 16, 2022By Kim Jae-heun
McDonald's, Lotteria plagued by potato shortages
Companies

E-commerce firms' explosive growth comes to end

Coupang's logistics center in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province / Yonhap By Kim Jae-heunLocal e-commerce companies are starting to see their sales growth stagnate this year, amid intensifying competition as more firms enter the rapidly growing online retail sector, according to industry analysts, Friday. E-commerce operators had previously been growing by at least 20 percent to 30 percent each year, but the rate was found to have slowed to 12 percent in February from a year ago, according to data released by Statistics Korea.This year, the companies are working on improving their profitability to continue expanding or planning for initial public offerings (IPO) to secure funds amid intensifying competition. Coupang, the country's largest e-commerce firm established in 2010, set a new sales record of 22 trillion won ($17.8 billion) last year. The company has grown by nearly 30 percent every year based on its overnight delivery system with some 100 distribution centers aroun

Apr 15, 2022By Kim Jae-heun
E-commerce firms' explosive growth comes to end
Companies

Is Genesis BBQ chief out of touch with reality?

Genesis BBQ Chairman Yoon Hong-geun / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulYoon vows to make fried chicken chain surpass McDonald'sBy Kim Jae-heunGenesis BBQ Chairman Yoon Hong-geun is raising eyebrows among industry analysts for his recent remarks that Korea's No.3 fried chicken restaurant chain aims to beat McDonald's and become the world's No.1 fast food franchise. Analysts said Yoon knows it is almost impossible for BBQ to become the world's largest, given that it is not even the biggest in the country, where it is outrivaled by bhc and Kyochon. The chairman has often made unrealistic remarks in the past in order to attract media attention, they said, stressing that people shouldn't pay too much attention to what Yoon says.In 2021, the country's largest fried chicken chain bhc earned 616.4 billion won ($53.84 million) in sales, followed by Kyochon F&B with 506.6 billion won. BBQ has yet to reveal its business performance for last year, but its sales are expected to have reached somewhere in the 300 billion won range. McDonald's 2021 revenue reached $23.22 billion globally. In t

Apr 14, 2022By Kim Jae-heun
Is Genesis BBQ chief out of touch with reality?
Companies

Kumho Petrochemical Group invests in new growth engines

Kumho Petrochemical Group's rubber manufacturing facility in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province / Courtesy of Kumho Petrochemical Group By Kim Jae-heunKumho Petrochemical Group is strengthening its main business of petrochemicals while also continuing to invest in new growth engines including secondary battery materials for its sustainable growth. Kumho Petrochemical is beefing up the competitiveness of its core business by establishing an advanced business portfolio centered on high-value synthetic rubber products. In particular, the company is focusing on diversifying its lineup of products with NB Latex, a raw material used mainly in latex gloves, to maintain its global leadership in the sector. For example, it has introduced a high-strength industrial glove with NB Latex, which improved the product's physical properties such as resistance to chemicals, wear and puncture. Furthermore, the company plans to take the added value of NB Latex to the next level by continuing

Apr 13, 2022By Kim Jae-heun
Kumho Petrochemical Group invests in new growth engines
Companies

Naver Smart Store strengthens regulations on foreign sellers

A Busan Regional Customs official reveals counterfeit sneakers smuggled in from China to Busan on Aug. 26, 2021. YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunNaver, Korea's top web portal service operator, is strengthening regulations on foreign nationals selling items through its Smart Store platform, aiming to clamp down on the sales of counterfeit products, according to industry watchers, Wednesday.Smart Store is an online shopping platform operated by Naver for small businesses. Starting on May 4, Naver will allow only foreign national residents of Korea who possess business licenses to sell products on Smart Store. Foreign students and people who have stayed in Korea for only a short period of time will not be able to do business on Smart Store. Currently, any foreign national can register as a merchant by verifying their mobile phone number ― even if they do not have a business license here. “We had some restrictions with helping customers who purchased problematic products from foreign sellers, who later fled to another country. As a result, we decided to strengthen business registration condit

Apr 13, 2022By Kim Jae-heun
Naver Smart Store strengthens regulations on foreign sellers
Companies

Customers, restaurants move to boycott Baemin, Coupang Eats over soaring delivery fees

Baedal Minjok delivery drivers fill a road in Seoul on Aug. 30, 2020. Korea Times fileBy Kim Jae-heunSome restaurant owners are gearing up to boycott Baedal Minjok (Baemin) and Coupang Eats after the two companies raised delivery fees sharply, according to industry watchers Tuesday. In addition, a growing number of consumers are choosing not to have their food delivered because of soaring fees and opting instead to pick up their orders.On Feb. 3, Coupang Eats adopted a new pricing system for single-order delivery services, and Baemin followed suit on March 22. They decided to charge commission fees of 6.8 percent and 9.8 percent of the food prices and force the restaurants to shoulder the delivery costs, ranging from 5,400 won ($4.36) to 6,000 won. The restaurants then split the delivery fees with customers. If they want to increase profit, they can charge customers a bigger share of the delivery costs, which could result in losing clients.“Baemin lists the names of restaurants on its app in order of low delivery prices. That means restaurant owners have to shoulder more delive

Apr 12, 2022By Kim Jae-heun
Customers, restaurants move to boycott Baemin, Coupang Eats over soaring delivery fees
Companies

'It's too expensive to dine out'

Fried chicken / GettyimagebankBy Kim Jae-heunA 33-year-old office worker in Seoul surnamed Kim said he doesn't know how other people are coping with soaring food prices.“It is too cruel for me. There isn't any food that is cheap anymore. I might have to pack my lunch from now on,” he said.“My family used to dine out two times a week because my children like chicken and pizza. However, we might have to dine out once a week as food prices rose ridiculously high over the past year,” a 35-year-old housewife surnamed Choi said. Like Kim and Choi, many people are starting to feel the pinch when dining out due to a surge in the prices of food. According to the Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS), the cost of eating out rose by an average of 6.6 percent in March from a year earlier, due to rising raw materials prices, delivery fees and employee wages. That is the largest increase since April of 1998 when Korea was hit by the Asian financial crisis.The prices of all 39 restaurant food items have soared, according to KOSIS.The price of “galbitang”

Apr 12, 2022By Kim Jae-heun
'It's too expensive to dine out'
Companies

Baedal Minjok cracks down on false restaurant reviews

Baedal Minjok's campaign poster against false restaurant reviews / Courtesy of Woowa BrothersBy Kim Jae-heunWoowa Brothers, operator of the country's largest online food delivery platform Baedal Minjok, has blocked 114,054 fake restaurant reviews utilizing various technical tools including real-time monitoring and artificial intelligence, the company said on Monday. This has resulted in the number of suspected misleading reviews decreasing by more than 60 percent over the past year. Previously, Baemin had manually blocked fake reviews reported by restaurant owners and customers. However, in November 2020, it adopted a monitoring system to monitor and analyze at restaurant reviews around the clock and analyze them before taking action. When a review is suspected of being fake, the system automatically limits its exposure to customers. Last June, Baemin started restricting restaurant owners from leaving favorable comments for their businesses too. Baemin is also taking legal action and warning those leaving fake reviews on the platform. Currently, investigations are underway with six c

Apr 11, 2022By Kim Jae-heun
Baedal Minjok cracks down on false restaurant reviews
Companies

E-mart enters 'quick commerce' market despite possible loss

A delivery worker receives items at E-mart's convenience store E-mart 24 in Seoul, on April 7. Courtesy of E-mart 24By Kim Jae-heunThe country's largest retailer E-mart has launched a quick commerce service called SSG Go starting Thursday. It is a late start considering that other e-commerce firms like Woowa Brothers and Coupang are leading the market after introducing the service last year. The competition has intensified as various players such as convenience stores, supermarkets and food franchise businesses also offer the service, which means E-mart has a bigger chance of losing money, but the food retailer seems to have no other choice.Quick commerce refers to delivery services that take less than an hour from order to the completion of the delivery. The market has huge growth potential, with its size expected to reach 5 trillion won ($4.07 billion) in the next three years. However, it requires huge investments in order to establish fulfillment centers while its profitability is relatively low due to too many competitors already in the market. Nevertheless, E-mart has to start t

Apr 9, 2022By Kim Jae-heun
E-mart enters 'quick commerce' market despite possible loss
Companies

SPC, BBQ and E-Land affected by extended lockdown in Shanghai

A Paris Baguette bakery store in Shanghai / Courtesy of SPC GroupBy Kim Jae-heunKorean firms operating in Shanghai are concerned, as the city has extended its COVID-19 lockdown to the entire city of 25 million. The Chinese government had been anticipated to lift the lockdown last Tuesday, but it ended up extending it indefinitely, as the spread of the virus has not yet slowed down.Shanghai has been restricting all residents from leaving their housing compounds since March 28. All public transportation has also stopped operating.In addition, 230 clothing stores owned by Korean fashion company E-Land are closed, while 130 Paris Baguette bakery stores and 50 BBQ chicken restaurants in the city have also been temporarily shut. Paris Baguette is Korea's largest bakery chain, owned by SPC Group. “Due to the lockdown, our staff cannot work at the shops and there are no customers on the streets either. We don't know when this regulation will be lifted and there is nothing we can do. We just hope that the COVID-19 situation in Shanghai gets better soon,” an SPC official said. E-La

Apr 8, 2022By Kim Jae-heun
SPC, BBQ and E-Land affected by extended lockdown in Shanghai
  • Shanghai wrestles with food shortages under virus shutdown
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