Orion snack manufacturer hikes prices of products for the first time in almost a decade

Orion Corporation, a South Korean confectionery company headquartered in Munbae-dong, Yongsan District, Seoul, is set to hike up prices of its products on Thursday, Sept. 15. Around 16 items are affected by the price increase.

As per The Korea Times, this will be the first time in nine years that Orion Corporation is raising the prices of some of its items. The rates could go up by an average of 15.8% this week, and this was confirmed by the company on Tuesday, Sept. 13.

The first price increase to be implemented since 2013 will include the favorite snack - Choco Pie. This popular product's price is set to increase by 12.4%, and the next highest increase is for the Poca Chip, with 12.3%, while the Turtle Chip will be 11.7% more expensive starting tomorrow.

It was reported that this move was not Orion's original plan. Until early this year, rather than hiking up the prices of its products, the company was planning to raise its share in the market by capitalizing on its snack line's price competitiveness.

Orion shared that the costs of its sugar, potatoes, and cooking oil already went up more than 70% year-on-year as of the end of August. The company further noted the cost of energy for the production of its products soared by over 90% as well in the same period.

"We have been effectively freezing the prices of all our products by actively reducing manufacturing costs and pushing forward cost-effective management," an official at Orion said in a statement regarding the hike. "However, due to the soaring prices of raw materials and energy sources since last year, the company has been under pressure to raise prices."

He added, "We have defended well against our profit decline thanks to our increasing sales overseas until the first half of this year. However, our profitability has been falling significantly from July and so we decided on the price hike."

The official clarified that the company would only raise the prices of items with profit margins that have dived because of the rising costs of energy and raw materials. Lastly, he said that Orion would immediately lower the prices again once the cost of raw materials and energy becomes stable.