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Kyochon F&B is increasing the prices of its fried chicken menu items by up to KRW3,000 or $2.30. Starting next Monday, April 3, the restaurant chain will implement the hiked-up rates in its stores in South Korea.
Kyochon still pushed through with its decision to raise the prices of its fried chicken despite the Korean government’s request for restaurants to avoid further price increases for the food they serve. The officials made this special request in an effort to help the citizens, especially low-income households, in reducing the burden brought about by high prices of commodities and food.
According to The Korea Times, as Kyochon F&B chose to raise its prices regardless of the plea, customers will now have to shell out almost KRW30,000 if they want a fried chicken for dine-in or delivery from the restaurant brand.
It was mentioned by one of Kyochon Chicken’s franchise operators that the Kyochon Original will now cost KRW19,000 from the previous KRW16,000 while the price of its Honey Combo signature menu will go up from KRW20,000 to KRW23,000.
Moreover, the prices will be much higher for deliveries as the company will charge KRW5,000 for the service. Thus, in total, having a Kyochon Chicken delivered to homes will put the price of the menu in the range of KRW30,000.
With this development, it can be recalled that Genesis BBQ’s chairman Yoon Hong Geun, said last year that customers should pay at least KRW30,000 for fried chicken, and this has earned him tons of criticism from customers. His statements even resulted in some government officials trying to summon him to the National Assembly audit.
In any case, Kyochon Chicken said it was left with no choice but to implement a price hike on its fried chicken because it has been struggling to keep up with the worsening profitability of its franchise stores in the past few years. It was noted that the price increase next month comes a year and five months after its last hike in November 2021.
"In addition to the rise of rents, labor costs, and various commissions, the recent raw material price hike led us to be more desperate for improvements in the business environment of our franchisees," Kyochon explained.
