An iced mocha (123rf) South Korea plans to overhaul the way highway service plazas are operated, replacing the current multilayered contracting system with direct agreements in a move expected to lower food and beverage prices.The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Thursday that a new public management company will make direct contracts with vendors from next year, removing intermediary operators that charge high commissions.Currently, service plaza operators take an average 33 percent to a maximum 51 percent of vendors' sales as commission. The Korea Expressway Corp. then takes 13.9 percent of the operators' revenue as rent.Under the new model, the government expects vendors' average commission burden to fall to 8-9 percent of sales. Total costs, including management fees, are projected to more than halve as well.The system will be tested at eight newly opened or contract-expiring service plazas this year before expanding to about 100 locations next year. The government aims to apply it to 80-90 percent of the country's roughly 200 highway service plazas by 2030.Officials said the changes could bring 24-hour convenience stores, discount promotions and more affordable options to service plazas.Americano prices, currently at around 4,800 won ($3.18), could even fall below 2,000 won if low-cost coffee brands enter the plazas.The ministry will also center on objectivity during vendor selection, introducing outside review panels and barring current and recent Korea Expressway Corp. employees and their immediate family members from bidding."Service plazas have long forced people to endure high prices and disappointing services because of their unreasonable structures," said Kim Yun-duk, Minister of MOLIT.