SEOUL, March 04 (AJP) - Ilyang Pharmaceuticals has withdrawn its health supplements from Daiso stores just five days after launch, following fierce opposition from pharmacists who argued that the discounted prices undercut traditional pharmacies.
The decision to pull the products disappointed many consumers, who had welcomed the opportunity to purchase affordable supplements at a widely accessible discount retailer.
Daiso confirmed that it would not restock Ilyang’s nine health supplement products beyond the initial inventory. The retailer had begun selling items such as vitamin C chewable tablets and saw palmetto supplements on Feb. 24.
Other pharmaceutical companies that introduced similar products at Daiso, including Daewoong Pharmaceutical and Chong Kun Dang Health, have not announced plans to withdraw their offerings.
The Korean Pharmaceutical Association and other pharmacy groups strongly objected to the sales, contending that the significantly lower prices eroded competition.
By reducing secondary ingredients and minimizing packaging costs, manufacturers had priced their products at Daiso between 3,000 won ($2.20) and 5,000 won ($3.65) — about one-sixth the price of the same items sold through traditional pharmacy channels.
“The price of Daiso’s private-brand health supplements is at a level we could never have imagined, undercutting what pharmaceutical companies have been supplying to pharmacies,” the pharmacist group Association Preparing for the Future of Pharmacists said in a statement on Feb. 27.
Meanwhile, convenience store chain CU’s operator, BGF Retail, has begun discussions with pharmaceutical companies about selling health supplements. A company representative noted that talks remain in the early stages.
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