Reorganization of the 'e-commerce' Food Competition Amid Coupang-CJ Conflict

'Anti-Coupang' E-commerce Expands Collaboration with Large Manufacturers
Coupang Counters with Win-Win Effects for SMEs and Mid-sized Companies
'Harim The Meats' Sold for 100 Won... Sold Out in 10 Minutes
Coupang-CJ: "Not Turned Away, Just in Negotiation Process"

On the 17th, Coupang held a ‘Half-Price Instant Food Special’ event, selling a limited quantity of the Harim The Misik white rice, oat rice, and five-grain rice set for 100 won. Since the stock prepared for last month’s 100-won instant rice event was sold out within 10 minutes, this month’s event also predicted a ‘hit.’ As expected, the limited quantity of Harim The Misik white rice, oat rice, and five-grain rice sets prepared by Coupang was sold out within 5 minutes. Industry insiders say, "The conflict between Coupang and manufacturers is shaking up the e-commerce food market landscape."

As Coupang and CJ CheilJedang engage in a tug-of-war over supply prices, the competitive structure of the e-commerce food market is being reshaped. So-called ‘anti-Coupang’ e-commerce platforms that aim to check Coupang are expanding collaborations with large manufacturers like CheilJedang, while Coupang is countering by emphasizing win-win effects with small and medium-sized enterprises.

According to the industry on the 18th, 11st, a leading figure in the anti-Coupang camp, is running a unique collaboration promotion ‘LG×CJ Matnada’ with LG Electronics and CJ CheilJedang until the 21st. This is the second collaboration promotion following the one in May. They are offering up to 50% discounts on representative products from LG Electronics and CJ CheilJedang. Among the food items are 35 CJ CheilJedang products such as Hetbahn and Spam. 11st has announced that customers who purchase these food products will be entered into a draw to win LG Electronics’ portable screen ‘StandbyME Go,’ which has recently caused a sold-out frenzy.

Lotte ON is also running a ‘One Brand Festa’ in partnership with CJ CheilJedang until today. They are selling Hetbahn, Spam, and other products at up to 50% off and giving customers a 25% discount coupon usable during next month’s ‘First Monday’ event. The discount coupon can only be used on CJ CheilJedang products. Lotte ON also plans to provide an additional 5,000 L.Points to 600 customers. SSG.com is similarly selling CJ CheilJedang Hetbahn and other products at special prices through its grocery-focused promotion ‘Food SSG Sale,’ running until the 20th.

The reason the food sales structure in the e-commerce market has become so polarized is due to the repeated conflicts between Coupang and CJ CheilJedang over supply prices. Last year, Coupang and CJ CheilJedang failed to reach an agreement on this year’s supply prices. As a result, CJ CheilJedang stopped supplying popular products including Hetbahn to Coupang. In the meantime, Coupang filled the gap left by CJ CheilJedang’s instant food products by substituting with products from small and medium-sized enterprises.

Industry insiders expect the e-commerce food market confrontation between the current ‘anti-Coupang alliance’ and Coupang to continue in the future. This is based on the fact that negotiations have been ongoing for over half a year, making it unlikely that both sides will easily find a compromise. However, a Coupang representative said, "It is true that the confrontation is burdensome," adding, "We can collaborate with any company, and Coupang has not turned its back on CJ CheilJedang; we are simply in the negotiation process."

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