South Korea's KFTC Fines Nine Pork Suppliers for E-Mart Price-Fixing
South Korea’s competition watchdog has fined nine pork suppliers for colluding to fix prices in the supply chain linked to E-Mart, the country’s leading discount retailer. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said the firms violated the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act and decided to refer six of them to prosecutors for possible criminal charges, while three will not face prosecution.
The nine firms named by the KFTC include Daeseong Industrial Co., Ltd.; Daejeon-Chungnam Livestock and Poultry Cooperative; Busan-Gyeongnam Pig Farmers Cooperative; CJ Feed & Care; Dodram Food; Bodam; Sejin (Sunjin), a Harim Group affiliate; FarmStory; and Headream LPC. The commission said price-fixing occurred in two separate processes tied to E-Mart’s pork supply: general meat bids and branded meat price negotiations.
In the general meat category, which covers unbranded domestic pork, eight suppliers allegedly agreed in advance on bid prices or minimum prices for cuts such as pork belly and neck meat during 14 bids conducted from November 3, 2021, to February 3, 2022. For branded meat, where products are sold under specific labels, five firms allegedly pre-agreed on unit prices across 10 instances between July 1, 2021, and October 11, 2023.
The total value of contracts affected by the alleged collusion was about 190 billion won (roughly 150 million U.S. dollars at current rates), with about 103 billion won in general-meat bids and 87 billion won in branded-meat negotiations. The penalties announced by the KFTC amount to 316.65 million won, equal to about 16.7% of the combined contract value.
Among the fines, Dodram Food received 680 million won, the largest individual penalty. Headream LPC was fined 440.1 million won, and Sejin (Sunjin), a Harim Group subsidiary, 435 million won. The KFTC said the exact fines for the other six firms were also determined, with six of the nine firms to be referred to prosecutors for possible criminal charges, while three firms were excluded from criminal prosecution.
The KFTC said higher supply prices driven by collusion would have translated into higher consumer prices at E-Mart, hurting shoppers. This case marks the first time the commission has pursued a pork-price-fixing violation, even as there have been prior actions against price-fixing in chicken or duck supply chains.
For U.S. readers, the case illustrates how Korea’s regulators are actively policing meat-supply contracts involving major retailers, with potential implications for global food markets and cross-border supply chains. Large retailers and meat processors in the United States increasingly track international enforcement actions, as such investigations can influence pricing discipline, contract terms, and the stability of meat imports and distribution networks across the Asia-Pacific region.