GLOBAL poultry producers hoping to cash in on South Korea’s craze for fried chicken and beer face a market crowded with local birds that have clipped prices and profits for South Korean growers.

    The popularity of the combination, known as “chimaek,” has boomed in recent years, fueled by its appearance in a hit South Korean television drama and an explosion of restaurant chains.

    Chimaek stores now dot South Korea and their ubiquitous delivery services shuttle freshly fried chicken and beer to homes, offices and picnics.

    At a Seoul outlet of the popular BBQ chain recently, Kim Chang hoo said he and his colleagues had planned to go to a sushi restaurant for a company dinner, but decided instead on chimaek — a mashup of chicken and maekju, the South Korean word for beer.

    “I cannot help think of chicken, even when I’m eating sushi,” Kim, 24, said. “I don’t know if it’s just me, but chicken always comes to my mind and is always delicious.”

    The craze has pitted domestic chicken producers in an increasingly tough battle for market share, prompting an over-supply and a drop in farm prices.

    Now imports are set to rise as South Korea lifts bans on overseas suppliers who are attracted by still low per capita consumption rates.

    South Koreans ate 14.2 kg (31 pounds) of poultry meat each in 2015, a near three-fold increase since 1990 according to OECD data, but only half the global average of 28.6 kg per person.

    South Korea’s market for chicken is expected to grow 5 percent to 1.01 million tons this year and a further 3 percent in 2017, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), boosted by the chimaek craze.

    Supply is currently dominated by the country’s three biggest producers — Harim Co., Dongwoo Co. and Maniker Co.

    All have seen their earnings hit in the first half of this year as they ramp up production to secure market share.

    Park Ju-No, the managing director at Harim, acknowledged producers were engaged in a “game of chicken,” each holding a potentially dangerous course in the hope their rivals flinch first.

    “We think it’s more crucial to focus on quality differentiation to survive instead of adjusting production, even though it contributes to a glut,” said Park.

    Park expects the imbalance to ease in the second half as the number of slaughtered chickens drops in summer, but sees the market over-supplied again next year as imports from the United States and Thailand resume.

    In July, Asia’s fourth-largest economy lifted ban on chicken imports from the United States, imposed due to a bird flu outbreak in 2015.(SD-Agencies)