[Getty Images Bank]
[Getty Images Bank]

Chicken meat prices have fallen more than 37 percent over the past six months, yet South Korea's fried chicken chains have shown no sign of passing the savings on to customers — even as prices inch closer to the 30,000-won ($22) mark per order.

Consumer frustration is mounting at chains that raised prices citing higher raw material costs, only to remain silent as those costs fall sharply.

According to the Korea Broiler Association, the wholesale price of grade-9 to grade-10 broiler chicken stood at 3,308 won per kilogram on Tuesday — a 37.7 percent drop from March.

The decline reflects a recovery in chicken supply that had been disrupted earlier this year by a highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak.

Chains that raised prices significantly say adjusting them back down is not feasible, citing accumulated cost burdens. They maintain that current prices reflect a "normalized" level.

As repeated price hikes drew consumer backlash, some chains turned to shrinkflation — keeping menu prices fixed while quietly reducing portion sizes.

Goobne Chicken cut the pre-cooked weight of its boneless chicken thigh menu from 800 grams to 700 grams — a reduction of 100 grams, or 12.5 percent — in June. It also trimmed its wing portions from 930 grams to 850 grams and its whole-leg portions from 905 grams to 820 grams.

Kyochon Chicken last September kept the price of some boneless chicken menus unchanged while cutting their weight from 700 grams to 500 grams, only to reverse the reduction after a consumer backlash.


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