It has been confirmed that the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has launched an investigation into the chicken industry over alleged price collusion.

According to industry sources, the FTC dispatched personnel to the headquarters of bhc, Genesis BBQ, and Kyochon Chicken today (October 6) to conduct on-site inspections.

The move reportedly comes amid growing controversy that chicken menu prices have remained at high levels despite a decline in the prices of broiler chickens.

President Lee Jae-myung shared a related news article on his social networking service (SNS) account on September 30.

The article noted that while the price of broiler chickens for frying had dropped by 37.7% over the past six months, signature menu items at major chicken franchises have stayed around 23,000 won.

Along with the article, President Lee wrote, "I will look into this."

Following President Lee's post, the FTC is known to have initiated work to examine whether chicken prices are linked to raw material costs, the pricing decision process of each company, and the cost-sharing structure between franchisors and franchisees.

The on-site inspections were conducted abruptly right after the holidays.

In particular, agents from the Cartel Investigation Bureau, the FTC department responsible for investigating price collusion, reportedly played a central role in the probe.

An industry official told Yonhap News, "There is no precedent for the FTC investigating major domestic chicken franchises for price collusion."

The industry maintains that it is inappropriate to compare final retail prices solely based on the price of broiler chickens.

This is because various costs have risen together, including labor costs, logistics expenses, subsidiary material costs such as cooking oil and packaging, delivery platform commissions, and store operating expenses.

Furthermore, the industry explained that even when broiler prices rose in the past, headquarters absorbed some of the cost burdens and delayed raising retail prices, making it difficult to immediately lower chicken prices just because raw material costs have fallen.

In addition, the final authority on pricing rests with individual franchise owners, making it structurally difficult for headquarters to force price changes.

Some in the industry suggest that the possibility of collusion is very low, citing that the chicken sector has seen frequent legal disputes and controversies, and relatively less active communication compared to other industries.

Chicken prices have remained unchanged since their last increases: December 2023 for bhc and Kyochon, and June 2024 for BBQ.