KFTC Conducts On-Site Investigation into Five Major Seasoning Manufacturers Including CJ CheilJedang, Daesang, Sempio, Pulmuone, and Sajo Daerim over Suspected Price Collusion

Signs of Collusion in B2B Supply Prices Detected
Crackdown on Food Industry Cartels Expands

The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has detected suspicions of collusive price-fixing involving key seasonings such as gochujang (red chili paste), doenjang (soybean paste), and soy sauce, and has launched a full-scale on-site investigation targeting major domestic manufacturers. This move is seen as the KFTC expanding its surveillance beyond basic food ingredients such as sugar, flour, and starch syrup to now include the secondary processed seasoning market, which has a direct impact on household food prices.

According to relevant government agencies and industry insiders on September 1, the Cartel Investigation Bureau of the KFTC dispatched investigators to five companies—CJ CheilJedang, Daesang, Sempio, Pulmuone, and Sajo Daerim—conducting on-site inspections. The KFTC is currently securing internal documents across these companies, such as price-setting structures and transaction conditions.

The KFTC suspects that these companies engaged in unfair joint actions, such as pre-arranging the timing and scale of price increases, when supplying seasonings to both major franchise headquarters (B2B) and the general retail market.

This is not the first time the KFTC has sanctioned the seasoning market. In 2011, the commission fined CJ CheilJedang and Daesang a total of 1,052 million won and issued corrective orders after finding that the two companies colluded to fix the discount rate for gochujang products sold at supermarkets at around 30%. They were also referred to the prosecution.

This latest investigation is regarded as an extension of the government's ongoing crackdown on food industry cartels in line with its price stabilization policy. Earlier this year, the KFTC imposed fines of 309.6 billion won on three sugar manufacturers in February, 671 billion won on seven flour producers in May, and 747.6 billion won on four starch syrup companies in July. Notably, CJ CheilJedang has been investigated not only in this latest probe into seasonings, but also for sugar, flour, and starch syrup.

A KFTC official stated, "We cannot confirm the specific allegations or the scope of the on-site investigation at this time."

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