Theborn Korea, led by CEO Baek Jong-won, saw its stock price plunge, causing it to fall below 30,000 won.
Theborn Korea's stock was trading at 29,400 won, down 3.61% (1,100 won) from the previous trading day, as of 9:21 a.m. on the 3rd. At one point during the day, it dropped to 29,000 won, marking a new low. Theborn Korea's stock has shown a downward trend for eight consecutive trading days.
Theborn Korea is a restaurant franchise company led by CEO Baek Jong-won, and its stock has been on a decline since its listing in November last year. Theborn Korea was listed on the Korea Securities Dealers Automated Quotations on Nov. 6 at an initial public offering price of 34,000 won.
In particular, the recent controversy over 'Baekham' has negatively influenced public opinion. Recently, CEO Baek launched a canned ham product called 'Baekham' as a holiday gift set through YouTube, which received criticism for being overly priced. The stock price, which had reached a high of 64,500 won on the day of listing, has since fallen below 30,000 won.
Theborn Korea announced that it would sell a set of Baekham priced at 51,900 won with about a 45% discount at 28,500 won, leading to controversy as a consumer began to compare it with Spam, which holds the top market share in canned ham. It was pointed out that Baekham is more expensive than Spam, yet contains lower pork content. Spam of the same weight is sold at a lowest price of 21,750 won on Coupang. The pork content of Spam and Baekham is 92.37% and 85.42%, respectively. However, Baekham only uses domestically produced pork, while Spam uses a mix of domestically produced, U.S., Spanish, and Canadian pork.