Last Year’s Price Increase by 'Kyochon Chicken'... Fell from 8 Years as Industry No.1 to 3rd Place

bhc·BBQ·Kyochon Chicken Order

Last year, the sales ranking in the domestic chicken industry changed to bhc, Genesis BBQ, and Kyochon Chicken. bhc maintained its first-place position for the second consecutive year, while BBQ rose from third to second place. Kyochon Chicken, which had held the top spot in the industry for eight years since 2014, lost its first place to bhc in 2022 and fell to third place behind Genesis BBQ in 2023.

[Photo by Pixabay]

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 12th, bhc's individual sales last year were 535.6 billion KRW, a 5.5% increase from the previous year. Genesis BBQ's sales last year were 473.1 billion KRW, up 12.9% from the previous year.

Among the 'Big 3,' only Kyochon Chicken saw a decrease in sales compared to the previous year. Kyochon F&B, which operates Kyochon Chicken, reported sales of 425.9 billion KRW, down 14.6% from the previous year.

In terms of operating profit, bhc recorded 120.3 billion KRW, a 15.2% decrease from the previous year. Net profit was 169 billion KRW, showing a 30.2% increase. bhc recently sparked controversy by switching the boneless chicken meat to cheaper Brazilian imports and raising prices, but announced last month that all ingredients will be changed back to domestic chicken.

Genesis BBQ's operating profit was 55.3 billion KRW, down 13.7% from the previous year. BBQ explained, "Operating profit decreased due to rising prices of chicken and raw materials such as flour."

Additionally, they emphasized, "Despite a 65% surge in global olive oil prices compared to a year ago due to abnormal weather conditions such as drought and cold damage, we have not raised supply prices since May 2022 to coexist with franchisees." They also stated, "Reflecting the consumer trend of enjoying chicken and beer at stores after COVID-19, we have opened new stores offering various products in Seoul, Ulsan, and Busan, and sales have grown as overseas tourists increased."

Kyochon F&B's operating profit increased by 738.5% to 24 billion KRW, and net profit rose by 497.2% to 15.7 billion KRW.

Meanwhile, among the three companies, Kyochon F&B raised menu prices in April last year, bhc did so in December last year, while BBQ kept prices unchanged.