China News Service, August 23. According to Bloomberg, the price of chicken in South Korea has risen due to rising inflation, and people are complaining.
But Homeplus, South Korea's second-largest supermarket chain, recently did the opposite, slashing the price of fried chicken to attract customers, sparking a price war among rivals.
Fried chicken has been playing a big role in South Korea's inflation figures.
On food delivery platforms, orders for fried chicken outnumber pizza and burgers.
But chicken prices have skyrocketed recently, outpacing many other foods.
BBQChicken, a large Korean fried chicken chain, now sells more than 20,000 won for a bucket of fried chicken, much higher than it was five years ago.
During the epidemic, delivery fees were also raised, making consumers even more distressed.
When the price of fried chicken was raised, Homeplus did the opposite. In late June, it decided to cut the price sharply. A bucket of fried chicken was only 6,990 won, and the crowds flocked.
The move forced its competitors to follow suit and cut prices. Emart, South Korea's largest supermarket chain, also launched a one-week special, with a bucket of fried chicken selling for only 5,980 won.
It was reported that many customers wanting to buy special chicken had long queues at nearly 140 Homeplus stores, a phenomenon that quickly became popular on social media.
The report said that Homeplus overturned the logic of seeking greater profits by raising prices.
Bloomberg quoted Oxford Economics economist Lloyd Chan as saying, "Homeplus's fried chicken is so cheap that other businesses may be under huge pressure to cut prices, or at least stop raising prices."