[THE INVESTOR] Although Haitai Confectionary & Foods sought to capitalize on the popularity of its potato chips by opening a new plant, it appears to have been a bit late, as sales have since stagnated, retail figures showed on July 8.

According to the company and data from Nielsen Korea, the monthly sales of Haitai’s Honey Butter Chip increased roughly 300 million won (US$259,629) in May and June, a small increase considering that the snack hits monthly total sales of 5 billion won. The sales of the chip at convenience store chain GS25, for example, fell 7.8 percent in June, according to tallies.

The company had opened a new factory on May 10 to meet high demand for the chips that first appeared in August 2014 and became an instant hit. Haitai won credit for breaking the conventional notion of salty potato chips by adding the taste of honey, and the chips were sold out for months.

The company had projected that the new factory would double the daily production of the snack to 300,000 boxes and create a brand with an annual sales of 180 billion won.

“The market isn’t growing as initially expected,” a Haitai official confirmed. “We are adjusting the production of Honey Butter Chips according to market demands.”

“The new factory isn’t just for manufacturing the Honey Butter Chip. It’s also producing other potato chip brands that had been put on hold because of the popularity of Honey Butter Chips,” he said.

Haitai Confectionery was listed on May 11 and its stocks were traded at as high as 68,000 won as one point. It closed at 29,150 won on Thursday.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)