Cost of gimbap breaks ₩3,000 as prices continue to rise

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Cost of gimbap breaks ₩3,000 as prices continue to rise

A shopper browses the vegetable section at a large mart in Seoul on Aug. 29, 2022. [YONHAP]

A shopper browses the vegetable section at a large mart in Seoul on Aug. 29, 2022. [YONHAP]

 
Food prices in Korea have risen so much this year that a single gimbap roll now costs more than 3,000 won ($2.17), an increase of 11.5 percent from a year earlier.
 
Gimbap, or Korean-style rice rolls, are extremely common across the country as a grab-and-go option for both a snack or a light meal. Not too long ago, gimbap sold for about 1,000 won, a third of the current going rate. Due to the aftermath of the Ukraine crisis and bad weather throughout the summer, the price of various ingredients have soared, and, coupled with rising labor costs, the upward trend in the price of eating out is expected to continue.
 
The average price of gimbap in Seoul in August was 3,046 won, up 2.59 percent from the previous month, according to a price data portal operated by the Korea Consumer Agency on Wednesday. The average price of gimbap in South Gyeongsang also recorded high, at 3,177 won. It is believed that this is because the price of basic ingredients for making gimbap, such as ham, pickled radish, spinach and crab meat, have risen.
 
Average prices of other popular dishes have also risen over the past month. 
 
The price of 200 grams of samgyeopsal (pork belly) rose 1.7 percent to 18,364 won, and the price of a bowl of kimchi stew rose 1 percent to 7,500 won. The prices of naengmyeon (cold noodles), samgyetang (chicken soup with ginseng) and kalguksu (knife-cut noodles) all rose by 0.5 to 0.7 percent. 
 
Every month, the Korea Consumer Agency publishes the average price by region of eight items considered to be some of the most commonly eaten dishes in Korea. Compared to a year ago, the price increase of these eight items is steeper. 


Jajangmyeon (black bean noodles) rose 15.3 percent on-year to 6,300 won last month, while kalguksu rose 12.9 percent and gimbap jumped 11.5 percent. Naengmyeon, kimchi stew, samgyeopsal and samgyetang also increased by 8 to 9 percent. Naengmyeon now costs over 10,000 won, and kalguksu 8,000 won — with the exception of bibimbap, the eight items all saw the first digit of their price increase over the past year.
 
The price of eating out is also skyrocketing, according to surveys by Statistics Korea. 
 
The increase in the cost of eating out in August was 8.8 percent, the highest rate in about 30 years since October 1992. It has been in the 8 percent range for three months in a row, the period that it has ever been in that range. The prices of 39 food items in August surveyed by Statistics Korea all rose compared to the same month last year.
 
This was due to the fact that large franchises and restaurants raised prices on the grounds that prices of ingredients had already risen. McDonald’s Korea, which raised prices of their products by an average of 2.8 percent in February, increased prices again for 68 items by an average of 4.8 percent from Aug. 25. Domino’s Pizza also raised the price of 16 pizzas last month.
 
Although the government expects inflation to peak in September and October, the price burden felt by consumers due to the soaring cost of eating out is expected to continue for the time being. Unlike prices of livestock and fishery products, the price of eating out has downward rigidity, so once it rises, it does not go down easily. Food and fuel prices continue to rise as Russia’s prolonged invasion of Ukraine and the won’s depreciation overlap.
 
Labor costs are also adding onto the burden. The minimum wage rose sharply during the last administration and recently there has been a shortage of labor. While the number of Koreans who are reluctant to work in restaurants has increased, the entry of foreign workers has been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The shortage of workers in the food service industry increased from 26,911 in the first half of last year to 58,293 in the second half and 74,361 in the first half of this year.
 
“Unless the rising international raw material prices and the won’s depreciation subside, the upward pressure on food prices will continue,” said Lee Eun-hee, a professor of consumer sciences at Inha University. “The growing burden on consumers itself is a problem, but from the point of view of business owners, it isn’t easy to raise the price because of concerns that customers will stop coming.”
 
“We barely got over Covid-19, but now concerns about inflation and economic recession are arising simultaneously, so the sense of crisis in the food industry is growing,” Lee added.

BY SOHN HAE-YONG [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]
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