The average annual salary of owners leading major domestic food companies has been found to exceed 2.9 billion KRW. Despite many companies recording sluggish performance due to a domestic market downturn, the compensation for owners has remained high. In particular, Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dongbin received 6.1 billion KRW through food affiliates, while Orion Group Chairman Dam Chulgon and CJ Group Chairman Lee Jayhyun earned 4.6 billion KRW and 3.7 billion KRW, respectively. However, the salary levels of food company employees still remain at the lowest level compared to other industries.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 25th, the 'salary king' in the food industry last year was Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dongbin. Chairman Shin received 2.223 billion KRW as salary and 382 million KRW as a bonus from Lotte Wellfood, totaling 2.605 billion KRW. In addition, he received 2.998 billion KRW in salary and 495 million KRW in bonuses from Lotte Chilsung Beverage, totaling 3.493 billion KRW. The total compensation Chairman Shin received from Lotte Wellfood and Lotte Chilsung Beverage amounted to 6.098 billion KRW, which is over 500 million KRW more than the previous year (5.523 billion KRW).

Shin Dongbin Lotte Group Chairman

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The owner who received the second-highest salary was Orion Group Chairman Dam Chulgon. Last year, Chairman Dam received a total of 3.082 billion KRW from Orion, consisting of 1.513 billion KRW in salary and 1.569 billion KRW in bonuses. From Orion Holdings, he received a total of 1.588 billion KRW, with 780 million KRW in salary and 808 million KRW in bonuses. This is a slight decrease from the previous year (4.631 billion KRW). However, if you include the salary of his wife, Orion Group Vice Chairwoman Lee Hwagyeong, the couple received a total of 8.302 billion KRW. Vice Chairwoman Lee received 2.397 billion KRW from Orion and 1.235 billion KRW from Orion Holdings last year.

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CJ Group Chairman Lee Jayhyun received 3.749 billion KRW in salary from CJ CheilJedang, while Binggrae Chairman Kim Hoyoun received 3.324 billion KRW. They were followed by Daesang Group Chairman Lim Changuk (2.088 billion KRW), Samyang Roundsquare and Samyang Foods Vice Chairman Kim Jeongsu (1.876 billion KRW), Nongshim Chairman Shin Dongwon (1.732 billion KRW), Dongwon Group Chairman Kim Namjung (1.579 billion KRW), Ottogi Chairman Ham Youngjun (1.36 billion KRW), and so on.

While Samyang Foods Vice Chairman Kim Jeongsu, who led the company to record-high performance last year, saw his salary decrease by about 400 million KRW, Binggrae Chairman Kim Hoyoun's compensation increased by 1.2 billion KRW (61%). SPC Group Chairman Hur Youngin and Pulmuone Chairman Nam Seungwoo did not receive salaries from SPC Samlip and Pulmuone, respectively.

On the other hand, the average annual salary for employees at food companies with over 3 trillion KRW in annual sales was tallied at around 58 million KRW last year. This is significantly lower than the average salary of 71.21 million KRW at large domestic companies. The food industry is evaluated as having lower employee salaries than other industries due to its low operating profit margins.

Orion Headquarters Exterior. Provided by Orion

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Among the 3-Trillion Club, Orion had the highest average salary per employee. Orion employees received an average of 88 million KRW last year, the same as the previous year. They were followed by CJ CheilJedang (82 million KRW), Lotte Chilsung Beverage (69 million KRW), Pulmuone (66 million KRW), Daesang (62 million KRW), Nongshim (61 million KRW), Lotte Wellfood (58 million KRW), SPC Samlip (52 million KRW), Dongwon F&B (51 million KRW), Ottogi (49 million KRW), and CJ Freshway (36 million KRW).

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The food company with the highest salary is Hite Jinro. Although it did not enter the 3-Trillion Club, Hite Jinro has ranked first in employee salary for four consecutive years. Last year, Hite Jinro's average salary per employee was 116.7 million KRW, more than twice that of companies in the 3-Trillion Club. This was an increase of 3.05 million KRW from the previous year's 113.65 million KRW. After becoming the first in the food and beverage industry to surpass an average salary of 100 million KRW per employee in 2021 (103.71 million KRW), Hite Jinro has maintained a similar level.

An industry official explained, "The food industry has high turnover rates and many sales and production positions filled by less-experienced employees, so salaries are not high," adding, "On the other hand, Hite Jinro has many long-term employees, so the average salary is higher than other companies."