Instant coffee fight gets ugly

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Business

Wed, November 29, 2023 | 22:13

Instant coffee fight gets ugly

Posted : 2012-03-18 19:23

Updated : 2012-03-18 19:23

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Two of the country’s biggest food companies are locked in an increasingly ugly feud over the use of casein, a type of milk protein, in its instant coffee products.

Dongsuh Foods had been enjoying an undisputed supremacy in the country’s instant coffee market, annually worth around 1.1 trillion won (about $977 million), with its flagship brand Maxim enjoying a market share of more than 70 percent.

However its leadership has been challenged by Namyang Dairy Products, which continues to see sales of its French Cafe coffee mix increasing since first appearing on Korean shelves in December 2010.

Through an ambitious advertising campaign featuring top actress Kim Tae-hee, Namyang has been suggesting that its product is healthier than Maxim because it uses a “fat-free” creamer instead of casein-based ingredients. According to Namyang, French Cafe now enjoys a market share of around 20 percent.

Casein, also listed as sodium caseinate, is commonly used in instant coffee products as it’s water-soluble. Dongsuh continues to use sodium caseinate in most of its products and stresses that its ingredients are safe. However, for its new brand, Maxim White Gold, advertised by figure skating megastar Kim Yu-na, Dongsuh emphasized that the new product uses “fat-free” milk.

The bad blood between the two companies boiled over last week when Namyang announced that Dongsuh was still using casein in Maxim White Gold and claimed that an insider from Dongsuh tipped it off. According to Namyang, the casein content in Maxim White Gold is up to 1.39 percent.

"Dongsuh intentionally did not indicate the casein content in their coffee, abusing the Food Sanitation Act regulations and indicating only the five most used ingredients in the product," a Namyang spokesman said. "Dongsuh has emphasized the safety of casein for years and it should explain why it hid the use of it. They look to be cheating consumers out of vital information and we will report this to the authorities.”

Dongsuh responded that it never said it wasn’t using casein in its new products. It also blamed Namyang for leaking its trade secret of mixing ratios of instant coffee and said it may take legal action against its rival.

"We do use natural casein for better taste and solubility. It is our technique to mix casein and nonfat milk in the correct ratio," a Dongsuh spokesman said. "We will take legal action if Namyang continues to blackmail us."

The Korea Food Safety Research Institute confirmed casein does not harm people’s health but it failed to calm the dispute.

Lee Kwang-won, a professor of Department of Food Science at Korea University, said casein is a kind of milk protein and it is categorized as food, not a food additive in many places including the United States and European nations. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also classifies it as safe.

"Casein is a component of natural milk and it can be separated from milk and used in coffee creamer to function as milk. Giving such an impression of casein being bad for people’s health is a kind of marketing strategy based on worries over food additives in general," Lee said.

meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr