"I Went for the Cheap Coffee, but Now I Feel Uneasy"... Major Coffee Franchises Cited for Violations One After Another

751 Violations Found at Domestic Coffee Franchises Over Five Years
Compose Coffee 194 Cases, Mega Coffee 184... Combined 50.3% of Total

In the past five years, a total of 751 violations of the Food Sanitation Act have been reported at Korea’s major coffee franchise chains. Nearly half of these cases were concentrated at Compose Coffee and MegaMGC Coffee.

On September 21, according to data obtained from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Fair Trade Commission by Assemblywoman Seo Mihwa of the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee, the top 10 coffee franchises by number of domestic stores recorded a total of 751 violations of the Food Sanitation Act between 2021 and 2025. Broken down by year, there were 87 cases in 2021, 136 in 2022, 198 in 2023, 169 in 2024, and 161 in the previous year.

Stores of domestic low-cost coffee brands located in a building in Jongno-gu, Seoul. From the left, Mega Coffee, Compose Coffee, and Paik's Coffee.

By brand, Compose Coffee had the most violations with 194, followed by Mega Coffee with 184. Together, these two brands accounted for 378 cases, or 50.3% of the total. Next were Baekdabang with 65 violations, The Venti with 64, Twosome Place with 49, and Ediya Coffee with 46.

Both Compose Coffee and Mega Coffee more than doubled their number of stores during the survey period. Compose Coffee grew from 1,285 locations in 2021 to 2,649 in 2024. Mega Coffee increased from 1,603 to 3,360 during the same period. Even when accounting for the number of stores, these two brands still had relatively high violation rates. Among the six brands that each had more than 1,000 stores, comparing the number of violations over five years to the number of stores at the end of 2024 showed that Compose Coffee recorded 7.3 violations per 100 stores—the highest. Mega Coffee had 5.5, The Venti had 5.1, Baekdabang had 3.8, Twosome Place had 2.9, and Ediya Coffee had 1.8 violations per 100 stores. On a per-store basis, Compose Coffee’s violation rate was about four times higher than that of Ediya Coffee.

Some locations committed repeat offenses after an initial violation. Over the last five years, 51 stores were caught violating regulations two or more times, with 13 stores each at Compose Coffee and Mega Coffee. There were also cases at Compose Coffee, Mega Coffee, Baekdabang, and Hasamdong Coffee where the same store was cited three times.

The most common reason for violations was failure to complete hygiene training, with 364 cases accounting for 48.5% of the total. Violations of product and specification standards followed with 169 cases (22.5%), then breaches of hygienic handling standards (76 cases), failure to complete required health checks (43 cases), and violations related to business modification notifications (43 cases).

In terms of administrative actions, fines were most frequently imposed, totaling 484 cases. Additionally, there were 198 correction orders, 37 penalty surcharges, 18 facility modification orders, and 14 business suspension orders.

Under the Food Sanitation Act, hygiene inspections and administrative actions are conducted on an individual store basis. Because violation records are also disclosed on the Food Safety Korea platform by store rather than by franchise, consumers have trouble making brand-to-brand comparisons of hygiene practices at a glance.

Assemblywoman Seo commented, "Coffee franchises are places that most people visit and consume from on a daily basis. We need to ensure that hygiene management standards keep pace with the rapid growth in store numbers." She added, "The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and local governments must strengthen follow-up management to prevent repeat offenses, and once a brand’s reputation is at stake, franchise headquarters should actively participate in supporting hygiene management at their affiliated stores."

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