| The delivery workers' union protests against Baedal Minjok in front of Woowa Brothers' headquarters in Seoul, on March 23. / Korea Times file |
By Kim Jae-heun
Local food delivery outsourcing agencies in Uijeongbu, northern Gyeonggi Province, have declared a boycott of Baedal Minjok (Baemin), the country's top food delivery platform service, owned by Delivery Hero.
The agencies argue that Baemin's unilateral decision to raise the delivery fee for its "Baemin 1" service has led to an increase in food prices, hurting restaurateurs and customers, as well as delivery outsourcing agency drivers. It is the first time that food delivery outsourcing agencies have taken collective action against the local IT giant.
Super Hero, the food delivery agency association, distributed fliers to people in Uijeongbu on Sunday that read, "Who is instigating the delivery fee hike?" The group further insisted that Baemin is eager to secure drivers by offering them twice the market average delivery fee, causing confusion in the local delivery scene.
Woowa Brothers, the operator of Baemin, recently raised its delivery fee with its newly launched service, "Baemin 1." Baemin 1 is a quick food delivery service in which drivers directly hired by Woowa Brothers bring orders to customers one at a time. Regular Baemin service allows workers to pick up and deliver multiple orders at a time, causing customers to complain that the food often arrives cold.
"Woowa Brothers already increased the delivery fee from 3,500 won to 4,000 won in April. It is not right to raise the fee again," the agency association said. "We should use the Special Delivery platform operated by Gyeonggi Province and Uijeongbu to take collective action against Baemin."
The food delivery outsourcing agency association added that if Special Delivery takes over 50 percent of the market share, that action will have the effect of keeping Woowa Brothers in check by itself.
Special Delivery is a food delivery platform created by a public firm that was established in April by Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea's presidential candidate.
Restaurant owners pay only 1 percent of their sales as commission fees when using the Special Delivery platform, which also encourages customers to use local area business vouchers.
President Moon Jae-in ordered his advising staff recently to check the status of the delivery commission fees collected by local food delivery platform operators.
Moon asked them during an internal meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Dec. 8 to check whether the increase in commission fees was placing an excessive burden on local restaurant owners, and if the benefits of the delivery fee hike were really going to the delivery workers themselves.