Rising lunch prices burning a hole in worker wallets

K-campus

Published: 17 Feb. 2023, 15:25 Updated: 03 Mar. 2023, 18:26

Rising lunch prices burning a hole in worker wallets

A restaurant in Seoul in Seoul. Many restaurants are raising price amid increased burdened on utility bills and inflation. [YONHAP]

Workers are gradually returning to their offices as the Covid-19 pandemic comes to a close, but their wallets are taking a hit with rising lunch prices, or so-called lunchflation.

“A pork cutlet that used to be 12,000 won ($9.24) now costs 15,000 won, and a bowl of galbitang [beef soup] costs16,000 won,” said Lee Sun-ae, a 28-year-old who works at an IT company in Pangyo, Gyeonggi.

Instead of going to a proper restaurant, Lee often runs to a convenience store to grab a bite.

“Sometimes, even cheap gimbap [seaweed rolls] and sandwiches are sold out as so many office workers these days choose to go to convenience stores," Lee add.

Korean office workers on average spent 9,633 won per lunch in the fourth quarter last year, up 16 percent on year, according to data from Siksin. The food tech company compiled the data from some 50,000 restaurants that use its mobile meal coupon service on Feb. 8.

Some 220,000 people per day use the service.

Particularly in Seoul, average spending on lunch jumped 33.8 percent on year to 12,285 won.

People in Busan and Pangyo, where many young people work, spent 11,808 won and 11,014 won, respectively, followed by 9,995 won in Daegu and 9,508 won in Daejeon.

An individual who works in Bukchang-dong, central Seoul, recently started packing his lunch.

“I thought a 3,500-won gimbap roll was expensive, but the price looks reasonable now when I look at how expensive other foods are,” he said.

Of the 28 restaurants surveyed in Bukchang-dong’s food street, where many workers grab lunch, nine places had no meals cheaper than 10,000 won. In most of the other restaurants, the cheapest meal was 8,000 won.

Tapes on a menu board at a restaurant in Seoul shows the changed meal prices. [SEO JI-WON]

To save money, some workers are even forgoing the post-lunch cup of coffee, long a symbol of lunchtime leisure.

“I used to drink at least a cup of cheap 2,500-won coffee every day, but now I don’t drink one to save money and settle with instant coffee in the office instead,” said an office worker surnamed Jeong, who also works in Bukchang-dong.

Lunchflation is prevalent in popular lunch selections such as bibimbap (rice mixed with vegetables), naengmyeon (cold noodles) and kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew).

The average price for a bowl of bibimbap in Seoul in January rose 8.7 percent on year to 10,000 won, according to Chamgagyeok, the food information portal of the Korea Consumer Agency. Nangmyeon climbed 9 percent to 10,692 won, the first time it has surpassed the 10,000-won mark.

A price of a gimbap roll also hit a record-high, exceeding 3,000 won.

Even franchise burger joints, long considered a place to go for a cheap lunch, have raised their meal prices.

McDonalds announced a 5.4 percent increase in the prices of their major menu items from Wednesday, the second price hike in six months. Its signature Big Mac, which was 4,600 won in July, now costs 5,200 won.

Lotteria raised its prices by 5.1 percent on average, and even No Brand Burger, a fast food chain that touts its bang for the buck, raised the price of 23 of its 31 menu items by 4.8 percent.

Lunchflation will likely continue rising for the time being.

The rising cost of eating out reflects the rising cost of ingredients like agricultural products, as well as rising prices for utilities and labor.

Restaurant prices tend to be the last to climb, after all the other price hikes set in.

With utility prices beginning to climb from the end of last year, ingredient costs and labor costs are likely to rise in turn, putting more pressure on restaurants to hike prices still further.

“Korea is experiencing inflation in service prices later than in other countries because Korea’s lifting of Covid-19 restrictions such as the mask mandate came late,” Seok Byoung-hoon, an economics professor at Ewha Womens University, told the JoongAng Ilbo.

"The price of eating out can be a long-term burden for young workers and households because it tends to remain high after a hike," Seok added.

BY SEO JI-WON, KIM NAM-JUN [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]