SEJONG, Jan. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – The price of soju, a rice-based liquor most popular with local drinkers, leaped 11.7 percent in 2016 from the year before, the highest rate of increase since recordkeeping began in 2000, a statistical agency said Monday. Prior price hikes for soju were 8 percent in 2001-2002 and 3.7 percent [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Korea Bizwire) – Last year’s floods affecting key soybean producers in Latin America, including those in Argentina, led to a drop in the soybean harvest, which is now crippling the supply of business-to-business cooking oil in Korea – further pressuring food businesses that are already suffering from soaring egg prices from the [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Korea Bizwire) – According to recent data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the average egg price in Korea is up to 2.8 times higher than in overseas markets, posing a threat to bakeries and confectioneries. The ministry compared the wholesale prices of eggs in the United States, Spain, [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s anti-trust regulator on Tuesday slapped a 526 million won (US$437,000) fine on Pizza Hut Korea for its unfair business practice against local outlets. The U.S.-based restaurant chain has collected a total of 6.8 billion won from franchisees here in the name of marketing and management fees outside [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Korea Bizwire) – Prices of major food products in South Korea have risen recently, putting a larger burden on consumers already hit by the fallout from the worst outbreak of avian influenza, industry sources said Friday. Nongshim Co., the nation’s top instant noodle ramyeon maker, jacked up the average price of its [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – Despite much larger sales, franchisees in South Korea earn less money than owners of stand-alone stores due to higher costs, a report said Thursday. The operating margin for one-man franchise stores in the wholesale and retail sectors came to 12.8 percent in 2014, 10.5 percentage points lower than that [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 21 (Korea Bizwire) – With South Korea struggling to contain a record-breaking bird flu outbreak that has so far led to the culling of close to 20 million poultry, it may be only a matter of time until the country suffers a critical egg crisis. Lotte Mart, a discount store chain, began limiting [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Korea Bizwire) – CJ Cheiljedang Corp., South Korea’s largest food company, said Tuesday it has completed two animal feed plants in Indonesia as part of efforts to expand its presence in the Southeast Asian market. One plant located in Central Java’s Batang has a 260,000-ton annual capacity of feed for chickens and [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 19 (Korea Bizwire) – In 2010, the South Korean government announced plans to cut sodium intake by 20 percent by 2020. The initiative has made impressive progress since, so far bringing down the daily intake level to 3,871mg in 2015 – a 19.1 percent reduction – according to the Korea Health Promotion Foundation. [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 14 (Korea Bizwire) – The launch of Shake Shack’s first Korean franchise on the main thoroughfare in Gangnam was met with unparalleled success, with the restaurant attracting an average of 3,000 visitors each day. The local operator of the franchise, SPC Group, is hoping to keep the momentum afloat by opening a second [...]