'Rotten Kimchi' Backlash... Home Shopping Industry Halts Sales and Issues Refunds
Kim Sun-ja, CEO of Hanseong Foods, is demonstrating the secret technique of making kimchi.
View original image[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] As controversy intensifies over Hansung Food's subsidiary manufacturing kimchi with defective ingredients, demands for sales suspension and refunds are pouring into the home shopping industry.
According to the industry on the 24th, the home shopping channels that sold Hansung Food's kimchi are Lotte Home Shopping, NS Home Shopping, and Gongyoung Home Shopping. Since the video revealing the subsidiary's defective kimchi production was released on the 22nd, these companies have canceled scheduled broadcasts and stopped online sales.
The companies stated that the kimchi they received was not produced at the problematic subsidiary factory but was made at factories in Bucheon, Seosan, and Jeongseon.
An NS Home Shopping official said, "The Hansung Food kimchi distributed through home shopping is produced at locations different from the problematic factory," adding, "Although this hygiene controversy is unrelated, we have decided to proceed with refunds upon consumer requests to alleviate consumer concerns."
Other companies have also taken action. Lotte Home Shopping and Gongyoung Home Shopping have excluded Hansung Food's kimchi from their programming. Online sales through their websites have also been suspended, making the product currently unsearchable. Additional measures such as refunds will be announced as they become available.
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This controversy is expected to impact the home shopping industry for the time being. Earlier, on the 22nd, MBC reported and released footage showing workers at the kimchi factory operated by Hansung Food's subsidiary handling discolored napa cabbage and moldy radishes. Hansung Food explained, "All rotten or inedible parts were completely discarded," but the next day, CEO Kim Sunja issued an apology and began shutting down the factory.
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