Kim Ho-yeon's Three Children Own Jette
Suspected Unfair Intervention in Contract with Jette
The Fair Trade Commission has launched an on-site investigation into allegations that the Binggrae chairman's family unfairly allocated business opportunities to their affiliates.
According to industry sources on April 21, the Fair Trade Commission dispatched investigators to Binggrae's headquarters in Jongno-gu, Seoul, as well as to Haitai Ice Cream, to secure materials related to alleged violations of the Fair Trade Act.
Binggrae is suspected of unfairly intervening in the process of having its subsidiary, Haitai Ice Cream, switch the supplier of packaging paper and snacks for its flagship product, Bravo Cone, to its logistics affiliate, Jette. Jette is a logistics company wholly owned by Chairman Kim Ho-yeon's three children.
The Fair Trade Act prohibits companies from providing assets, goods, or services to other companies under terms more favorable than normal, or from otherwise offering unfair support. If the company terminated contracts with competitive existing suppliers without just cause and switched transactions to the company owned by Chairman Kim's family, thereby undermining market competition, it could be subject to penalties for unfair support practices.
A Binggrae representative stated, "We will fully cooperate with the Fair Trade Commission's investigation."
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