"Commission Abuse by Baemin Rejected"…5 Major Chicken Franchise Owners Initiate Boycott Movement

'Will They Leave Baemin? Or Stay?'
Top 5 Chicken Franchise Owners Gather on the 10th

Baedal Minjok image. [Photo by Yonhap News]

Owners of the five major chicken franchise brands in Korea are gathering to discuss whether to 'boycott' Baemin (Baedal Minjok). This collective action comes as the increased intermediary fees have placed a heavier burden on the stores, marking the first time a group action has been taken against a specific delivery app.

Representatives from the franchisee councils of five domestic chicken brands (BHC, BBQ, Kyochon Chicken, Goobne Chicken, and Puradak) are scheduled to meet on the 10th. The group of franchisees is reportedly considering temporarily not using Baemin's newly introduced free delivery service, 'Baemin Club,' or withdrawing from the service altogether. They also plan to continue consultations with each company's headquarters and the national franchisee councils to secure momentum for the boycott and actively encourage the use of public delivery apps.

It is understood that this decision was made because the economic burden on franchisees has reached a critical point due to Baemin's increased delivery fees and the passing on of delivery costs. Previously, in 2022, Woowa Brothers, the operator of Baemin, changed the Baemin delivery usage fee borne by franchisees from a flat rate of 1,000 KRW per order to a fixed rate of 6.8% of the order amount, and in August, they raised the Baemin delivery commission rate from 6.8% to 9.8%.

In response to criticism over excessive intermediary fees, Baemin recently proposed to the government’s win-win cooperation body a plan to apply a differentiated commission rate, lowering it by up to 2% depending on sales volume. This means easing the commission burden to about a quarter of the current rate (9.8%). Industry insiders interpret this as a gesture of concession from the delivery industry amid recent strong political moves to regulate commission rates by law.