Kyochon faces criticism after increasing delivery fees

Kyochon F&B Co. Ltd. fried chicken restaurant chain based in South Korea, has been the country's largest fried chicken franchise based on sales. It is apparently a local favorite, but it has been criticized recently after it raised its delivery fees.

According to The Korea Times, Kyochon has been receiving backlash for its decision to increase the delivery fees by 33%. It has been KRW3000 for a long time, and now the company has started charging KRW4,000 or around $3.05 for delivery orders.

The consumer groups are raising their voices and expressing disappointment over the new rate. The negative comments are growing each day, but an official of the fried chicken chain brand defended the company against the criticisms by explaining the headquarters has no say in the implementation of new rates because this is decided by the franchise owners.

"I know there is criticism toward the headquarters over higher delivery costs, but it is not up to us to decide the rate," the Kyochon official said. "We just follow our franchisees' decisions."

Then again, the consumer group immediately dismissed the Kyochon official's claim by saying the company's operating profit actually increased by 8.1% in 2021, and it if had shared its earnings with its franchisees, then they would not have raised the delivery fees.

For the company official's explanation, a food delivery company employee said that "Kyochon F&B is avoiding its responsibility to the restaurant owners, which is the act of a coward."

He added, "They have increased all the fees reflecting the recent inflated costs of food materials, labor expenses, and public utility charges. The franchisees cannot deal with them all and that is why they are increasing the delivery fee."

Some of the customers said that they just could not believe that they had to pay an additional KRW4,000 for the delivery, which they said is 25% of the actual price of the fried chicken menu that they ordered. With the high delivery rate now, many are saying that they may just stop ordering from Kyochon altogether.

Meanwhile, the Korea Broiler Council pointed out that the price of chicken used at fried chicken restaurants has gone up by 20% and is now worth KRW4,692 per kilo from just KRW3,923 last month. The organization said cooking oil prices is also higher now due to the inflated international grain prices. It is possible that these increases in costs may have also caused the delivery fee to rise.