Fruity gifts particularly popular for this Chuseok holiday

On-year sales of gift sets celebrating the Chuseok harvest holidays that start today have seen a general jump at retailers.

Refrigerated Korean beef and fruit continued to be some of the most popular presents for the harvest holidays, which will run through Sunday.

On-year sales of gift sets sold at discount chain Emart starting 50 days ahead of the Chuseok holiday from July 25 through Sept. 8 jumped 8.6 percent compared to the same period last year.

Fruit saw the largest leap in sales at 26.1 percent while Korean beef saw a 9.1 percent increase. The earlier arrival of Chuseok holidays resulted in higher demand for refrigerated Korean beef over frozen beef, according to Emart.

Pre-orders made at another discount chain Homeplus from July 19 through Sept. 1 increased 23 percent compared to last year’s pre-order season.

“Although sales of livestock products slightly retreated due to the earlier Chuseok season compared to last year, grocery categories saw a boost in sales, leading the overall growth in the sales of Chuseok gift sets,” said Homeplus in a statement.

Hyundai Department Store also saw its Chuseok gift sets increase in sales.

The department store saw its on-year sales from harvest holidays gift sets rise 6.2 percent from Aug. 12 through Sunday compared to the same period ahead of the holidays last year.

By categories, dried food like beef jerky and nuts led the sales at 12.5 percent, followed by fruit at 12.4 percent and Korean beef at 11.3 percent. By price range, gifts priced between 200,000 won ($179) and 300,000 won saw the largest boost in sales at 15.4 percent, followed by those priced above 300,000 won at 11.8 percent and those priced below 100,000 at 9.3 percent.

“Distinct gifts divided in different categories under Korean beef, dried yellow corvina and fruit are being well-received among customers,” said a spokesperson for Hyundai Department Store.

Lotte Department Store saw its on-year Chuseok sales from pre-orders skyrocket 82 percent from July 22 through Aug. 18 compared to the same period ahead of Chuseok last year.

Fruit and vegetables led the growth at 11.1 percent while health foods like ginseng followed at 10.8 percent on back of the rise in demand for organic products.

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]