The nation’s antitrust watchdog said Friday it will probe five major coffee shop chains, including Caffe Bene, over allegations of unfair treatment of franchises.
The Fair Trade Commission plans to begin the inquiry in April, and focus on unfair practices by the headquarters such as forcing franchises to pay for interior renewals.

“We received reports on unfair practices by some of the coffee shop chain headquarters,” an FTC official said.

“We plan to launch a sweeping inquiry to help franchise owners, who opened the stores to make a living, support themselves.”

Local coffeehouse chains Holly’s, Angel-in-us, Caffe Bene, Ediya and Tom N Toms are most likely to be on watch. Foreign brands such as Starbucks and Coffee Bean, which directly manage their shops, will not be under investigation.

The FTC plans to analyze the reports and hold on-site inspections of companies suspected of irregular conduct.

FTC chief Kim Dong-soo has publicly warned against the coffeehouse chains’ high-handed behavior toward franchises twice recently.

“To create a corporate ecosystem of mutual development, we must establish order for fair trade in the franchise business,” Kim said in a breakfast lecture on Wednesday, repeating what he said in a New Year’s press conference last month.

The local coffee market more than doubled in four years to 3.69 trillion won last year. The coffeehouse chain market tripled to 1.38 trillion won in the same period.

The number of Caffe Bene stores shot up from 17 in 2008 to 570 last May.

An FTC official said that a market survey in 2009 showed an intensifying oligopoly in the coffee market.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)