This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz RM Report website at 5:22 a.m. on Nov. 12, 2025.
As the government considers expanding the mandatory labeling of food weight to the instant-prepared food sector, chicken franchise companies are expressing reluctance. The mandatory weight labeling system is a legal rule that requires the exact actual weight or quantity of the contents to be indicated on the smallest sales unit container of products sold to consumers.
This follows the fact that Kyochon Chicken sought to increase profit by keeping prices unchanged while reducing the weight of its boneless menu. On the 14th, Song Jong-hwa, CEO of KYOCHON F&B, which operates Kyochon Chicken, apologized for not sufficiently informing consumers about the reduction in boneless chicken weight and the change in materials and supplies.
According to the related industry on the 12th, chicken franchise companies recently voiced concerns that mandatory weight labeling would cause confusion at franchise outlets if introduced. Although headquarters supply chicken of a certain size and quality, weight is likely to decrease during the cooking process. A chicken franchise official said, "When weight decreases due to issues such as moisture evaporation, owners have no way to respond on site," adding, "If nuggets are added to make up the shortfall, an expense increase is unavoidable."
This is a response to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Fair Trade Commission, and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety saying they will draw up specific measures related to chicken shrinkflation (a phenomenon in which prices effectively rise by keeping the product price the same while reducing volume or size) and implement them by the end of this month.
It is not only chicken franchises that are on edge. It applies across instant-prepared food franchises such as tteokbokki. A tteokbokki franchise official said, "Baskin Robbins of SPC Group has long been labeling weight. We are internally checking whether there have been any related civil complaints." The official added, "For instant-prepared foods with broth, like tteokbokki, it will be realistically difficult to operate in line with the rules."
The move to mandate weight labeling for franchises began when Kyochon Chicken said it would reduce the weight of its boneless menu from 700g to 500g and change the materials and supplies from exclusively thigh meat to a mix with breast meat. Critics said the plan to use lower-cost breast meat or to reduce weight itself was a trick to raise prices. In the end, KYOCHON F&B restored the weight to the original level, and in October, CEO Song Jong-hwa of KYOCHON F&B apologized at the National Assembly audit.
Mandatory weight labeling has already been introduced this year for confectionery, frozen desserts, and ramen. Since this year, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has required that products with reduced content volume compared with before must indicate the product content volume and the fact of the change on the package and keep it for at least three months. If a 100g product is reduced to 80g, the package must carry indications such as "content volume changed product 100g→80g," "content volume reduced by 20%," or "content volume 80g (previous content volume 100g)."
In the franchise industry, while shrinkflation does conflict with consumer rights protection, some say the recent moves are excessive given that price increases to consumers, including weight changes, are considered a last resort. A franchise company official said, "Raising prices means consumers may turn away," adding, "Chicken, pizza, and hamburgers are easily substitutable, and no single company has a monopoly structure, so price increases or weight changes are not decided lightly."
Consumer groups are welcoming the move as part of protecting consumers' right to know. The Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) has been regularly checking the status of shrinkflation since last year, and last year alone, 57 products reduced volume, effectively raising the unit price. Lee Eun-hee, a professor in the Department of Consumer Science at Inha University, said, "It is time corporations realized that accurately informing and persuading consumers about price and weight is the way to protect brand trust in the long term."