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South Korea: Top coffee chain fined for dominance abuses

By  |  August 4, 2014

Officials in South Korea have fined the nation’s leading coffee shop chain for abusing its market dominance against shop owners, say reports.

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    The Fair Trade Commission fined Caffe Bene about $185,000 for the anticompetitive conduct, the largest-ever fine issued by the FTC on franchise operators. The fines were announced Monday.

    According to the watchdog, Caffe Bene transferred its share of a joint promotion burden onto its franchise shop owners. Caffe Bene and KT launched a campaign that offered a 10 percent discount for KT wireless customers. Each company agreed to shoulder half of the financial losses.

    About 40 percent of shop owners had originally opposed of the promotion, say reports.

    Full content: Korea Times

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