bhc Chicken, Franchise 'Forced Purchase of Raw Materials' Allegations Cleared Without Charges

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] bhc Chicken announced on the 26th that it recently received a no-charge decision from the Fair Trade Commission regarding the allegations of oil price extortion raised in 2018.

In 2018, the former Franchisee Council filed a complaint with the Fair Trade Commission, claiming that bhc Chicken forced transactions at high prices with specific parties for fresh meat and high-oleic sunflower oil.

In response, the Fair Trade Commission judged that these items are raw materials used in the cooking process of the representative menu, chicken, directly related to the taste and quality of the product, and considering that it was disclosed in advance through information disclosure documents that transactions must be made with specific parties, it could not be recognized as a violation of the law.

Additionally, the Fair Trade Commission notified that it processed the case as the termination of the review procedure because it was difficult to verify the facts regarding the former Franchisee Council's report on unfair forced store environment improvements, failure to notify receipt and execution details of advertising expenses, and refusal to renew franchise contracts due to collective activities by some franchisees, making it impossible to determine whether there was a legal violation.

A bhc Chicken official stated, “As we have done so far, bhc Chicken will continue to strengthen principled management, compliance management, transparent management, and win-win management with franchisees, fulfilling its role as a leading company that grows together with its franchisees.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.