Home > Business > Industry

Daiso pulls hyped-up health supplements on pharmacist opposition

Published: 11 Mar. 2025, 14:08 Updated: 11 Mar. 2025, 18:54

KIM JU-YEON
[email protected]

PARK EUN-JEE
[email protected]

A pedestrian walks by a Daiso store in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Dec. 13, 2023. [NEWS1]

Dollar shop Daiso selling health supplements and vitamins at considerably lower prices than pharmacies sounded too good to be true. Turns out, it just might've been.

The chain has now halted sales of products manufactured by Il-Yang Pharmaceutical following opposition from pharmacists, leading to a potential probe from Korea’s market watchdog to see if the latter’s actions violate fair trade law.

Daiso started selling supplements manufactured by Il-Yang and Daewoong Pharmaceutical from Feb. 24, and was slated to release Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical products from this month or April. Consumers had been excited about the launch, particularly as the items cost either 3,000 won ($2) or 5,000 won in line with the chain’s budget pricing strategy.

The pharmaceuticals said they cut down on costs by eliminating ingredients that did not contribute to the supplements’ primary promised benefits or by slimming down on packaging. Mass production also helped, they said.

Pharmacists publicly opposed the sales, criticizing the suppliers’ cheaper costs for Daiso. Pharmmaker, an organization advocating for pharmacists, said in a statement the manufacturers were treating pharmacies like a “doormat” and that the price differences were “beyond imagination.” Many pharmacists addressed the issue on online community sites, even hinting at a potential boycott of the pharmaceuticals.

As the controversy grew, some questioned the supplements’ claimed health benefits based on their formulas through such means as comparing the ingredients of Daiso’s products with other goods on the market.

It all came to a head when Korean Pharmaceutical Association (KPA) President Kwon Young-hee met with the three pharmaceutical firms that supplied products to Daiso on Feb. 26 and Feb. 27. No official reason was given for then-president-elect Kwon’s visit, but the KPA released a statement shortly after.

In its statement, the KPA claimed that the manufacturers' marketing emphasis on low prices vilified pharmacists as they “fueled [consumers’] misunderstandings and complaints against pharmacies.”

“A famous pharmaceutical has exploited the trust it has built over the years supplying health supplements to pharmacies; we strongly condemn it for marketing its products as being supplied more cheaply to a general goods store,” the KPA said.

It’s not fair for pharmacies and general stores like Daiso’s products to be evaluated based on price alone, the KPA added, saying the expertise provided by professionals at pharmacies was a service that could only be provided by them.

Il-Yang then suspended its supply to Daiso on Feb. 28, just five days after the chain started selling their products. The dollar store chain said it would only sell the remaining stock of Il-Yang products. Daewoong and Chong Kun Dang have not halted their supply.

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) started preliminary processes for a potential probe into the KPA to see if the association could have abused its authority in such a way that led to the sales suspension, which would violate fair trade laws. Money Today made the first report Sunday.

"We are currently in the fact-checking stage before the formal investigation. If the allegations are confirmed at this stage, a formal investigation will proceed,” an FTC spokesperson told the Korea JoongAng Daily.

Updated, March 11: Recast lede, added details about pharmacists' criticism, statement from KPA.

BY KIM JU-YEON, PARK EUN-JEE [[email protected]]