Bun crisis hits Korea’s burger industry after SPC plant fatal accident

SPC Samlip’s Siwha factory / Newsis

A fatal accident at SPC Samlip’s Siwha factory has triggered a widespread disruption in hamburger supply chains, leaving franchises like Lotteria and Mom’s Touch scrambling to secure enough burger buns.

According to the food service industry on Monday, SPC Samlip is the largest B2B hamburger bun supplier in South Korea. While other plants such as the Seongnam facility also produce hamburger buns, the Siwha site has the largest capacity.

SPC Samlip halted operations at the Siwha plant after a fatal accident involving an employee on May 19. The Ministry of Employment and Labor issued a work stoppage order for 10 production lines related to the incident, leading the company to suspend all 29 lines at the facility.

This shutdown has paralyzed production of SPC Samlip’s popular KBO-themed pastries as well as the hamburger buns. Major franchises that rely on SPC Samlip’s supply — including Lotteria, No Brand Burger, Mom’s Touch and Burger King — are facing shortages. The only major chain unaffected is McDonald’s Korea, which exclusively sources buns from Grupo Bimbo Korea, the Korean branch of the global food supplier.

No Brand Burger has temporarily closed five directly operated locations, including the Seoul City Hall branch, to divert limited hamburger buns to franchise stores. Lotteria has experienced temporary pauses on some menu items due to irregular supply. Lotteria is relying on its own food division, Lotte Wellfood, to fill the gap.

Mom’s Touch briefly suspended delivery services at some locations after the accident but has since resumed operations. The chain is working with Grupo Bimbo Korea to secure additional supply and has reduced store order volumes to manage inventory.

Burger King has postponed the launch of its new Originals product line due to the disruption.

SPC Samlip has partially resumed operations at the Siwha plant, but hamburger bun production lines remain shut down under the ministry’s work stoppage order. Without government clearance, there is no clear timeline for full resumption.

An industry insider said, "Some franchises have declared emergency status, closely monitoring the supply crisis. It’s not easy to immediately transfer SPC Samlip’s output to other suppliers like Lotte Wellfood or Bimbo Korea."

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.