Once again, there has been a significant shakeup in the rankings within South Korea’s chicken industry. Kyochon, which once firmly held the top position, has slipped to third place, experiencing a decline in both sales and reputation. Among the “Big 3″ players in the industry, it is the only one to see a downturn in revenue, believed to be influenced by its decision to hike prices unilaterally.
According to Korea’s electronic disclosure system, DART, BHC surged to the top spot, recording individual sales of 535.6 billion won last year. This marks the second consecutive year BHC has claimed the top position, after surpassing Kyochon in 2022. However, despite this achievement, its operating profit decreased by 15.2% compared to the previous year, amounting to 120.3 billion won.
BBQ secured the second position, with sales of 473.1 billion won and operating profit of 55.3 billion won in the past year. While sales increased by 12.8% compared to the previous year, operating profit saw a decline of 13.7%. The decrease in operating profit for both BHC and BBQ is attributed to the rise in prices of ingredients such as chicken and olive oil.
Kyochon, once the undisputed leader, plummeted to third place. After claiming the top spot in the industry for the first time in 2014, it maintained its position for eight years but failed to recover after being pushed to second place in 2022. Its sales last year also saw a significant decline, dropping by 14.6% to 425.9 billion won. However, its operating profit skyrocketed by 738.5% to 24 billion won, and net profit surged by 497.2% to 15.7 billion won.
Last year, Kyochon faced backlash after raising prices by an average of 3,000 won per product in April. A recent survey conducted by MetaSurvey, a data-driven research firm, revealed that half of the respondents expressed intentions to seek out alternative chicken restaurants following Kyochon’s price hike. Subsequently, BHC followed suit by increasing prices in December, while BBQ chose to freeze its prices.
