This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz RM Report website at 5:21 a.m. on Jun. 18, 2026.
As low-sugar and wellness trends spread, more consumers are checking nutrition facts such as calories, sugar, and caffeine when choosing foods, but some coffee franchises still are not properly disclosing related information on their websites.
Even four years after the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) recommended improvements, some companies still do not provide nutrition facts for each menu item on their websites, drawing criticism that consumers' right to know and right to choose are being limited.
According to the retail industry on the 18th, the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) in 2022 investigated 29 coffee and beverage franchises operating more than 200 stores nationwide and recommended improvements after pointing out that seven brands, including GAMSUNG COFFEE, Mammoth Express, Selecto Coffee, Jamba Juice, COMPOSE COFFEE, TENPERCENT SPECIALTY COFFEE, and HASAMDONG COFFEE, were not displaying nutrition facts on their websites. At the time, the agency recommended that coffee and beverage shop operators provide consumers with accurate sugar content because excessive sugar intake can increase the risk of diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure.
ChosunBiz's review of each brand's website as of Jun. 2026 found that Mammoth Express, Selecto Coffee, and COMPOSE COFFEE were disclosing nutrition facts such as calories and caffeine and sugar content, but GAMSUNG COFFEE, Jamba Juice, TENPERCENT SPECIALTY COFFEE, and HASAMDONG COFFEE still made it difficult to check nutrition facts by menu item on their websites.
Recently, in the café industry, high-sugar drinks such as smoothies, frappes, and ades have been steadily released. Some products contain sugar levels that far exceed the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended daily intake of added sugar, raising concerns that if consumers cannot check nutrition information, they may mistake them for healthy menu items or end up consuming excessive sugar.
Currently, the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety recommends labeling calories, sugars, protein, and sodium through the "voluntary nutrition facts labeling guidelines for restaurants," but it is not mandatory. As a result, the level of information disclosure varies by company; while some large franchises such as Starbucks provide detailed nutrition facts through their websites and apps, some brands make it difficult for consumers to easily check related information.
COMPOSE COFFEE recently added nutrition facts labeling through a website overhaul. A COMPOSE COFFEE official said, "We were displaying nutrition facts in the main app. We also overhauled the website's per-menu nutrition facts pages by improving how information is provided," adding, "We are operating nutrition facts disclosure and labeling methods through communication and consultation with the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA)."
An official at the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) said, "Given the high level of domestic coffee and beverage consumption, nutrition facts labeling is needed," adding, "However, because it is not mandatory, the Korea Consumer Agency will continue to investigate and strongly recommend improvements to businesses that fall short."
An official at the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety also said, "Although it is currently operated on a voluntary basis, the agency is making various efforts to provide nutrition facts databases to self-employed business owners and to develop related consulting and guidelines."
◇ Overseas mandates nutrition information labeling
Overseas, systems more proactive than those in Korea are also in place. In the United States, at the federal level, chain restaurants above a certain size are required to display calories by menu item, and some local governments, including New York City and California, operate additional consumer information systems such as sodium warning labels. The system ensures that consumers can easily check nutrition information at the ordering stage.
Singapore also assigns a nutrition grade (A–D) to beverages sold in cafés and restaurants based on sugar and saturated fat content, and requires products with high sugar content to display the grade and nutrition information. Some high-sugar beverages are even restricted in advertising to guide consumer choice. The United Kingdom and France have introduced the so-called "sugar tax," which levies taxes on sweetened beverages to encourage manufacturers to reduce sugar and to curb consumption.
Voices within the industry also agree on the need to expand information disclosure. A coffee franchise industry official said, "Sugar content can vary depending on the characteristics of the materials and supplies and the product concept, but the industry as a whole needs to work so that consumers can make choices based on sufficient information, and it is also necessary to consider expanding the scope of nutrition facts disclosure."
Experts, however, note that if nutrition facts labeling is made fully mandatory, the burden on small businesses must also be considered. Kang Jae-heon, a family medicine professor at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, said, "For small cafés or smaller franchises, the expense for nutrition analysis and labeling may not be insignificant," adding, "Rather than making it mandatory across the board, we also need ways to encourage voluntary participation through campaigns or incentives that highlight corporations that do nutrition facts labeling well."
He added, "It is desirable to first apply nutrition facts labeling to franchises above a certain size and, for other businesses, to combine recommendations and encouragement and then expand it in stages."