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A customer shops for vegetables at a discount mart in downtown Seoul on Sunday.
An employee displays lettuce at a discount supermarket in downtown Seoul on Wednesday.
A customer picks up a lettuce bundle at a traditional market in downtown Seoul on Tuesday. The price of vegetables such as lettuce and spinach soared amid frequent rain during the monsoon season.
Packaged side dishes and frozen foods are gaining popularity as the cost of dining out and the appetite for quick eats grow. Even common fresh foods such as vegetables and fruits have become trendy in the subzero status.
With prices of fruits and vegetables rising constantly, demand for cheaper frozen options is on the rise.
Prices of vegetables remain high due to the extended cold spell. A photo above shows a vegetable stand at a supermarket in Seoul on Monday.
Based on reports by the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, the wholesale price on 20 kilograms of radish on Thursday was 29,000 won ($22). That’s a 36.8 percent increase from a week ago.
Customers are getting lettuce-less hamburgers as vegetable prices soar due to a cold snap, and the situation is expected to continue.
Park Hye-jin, 44, a housewife in the Mapo District of western Seoul, was surprised to notice the high prices of vegetables and fruit at her local supermarket.
Convenience stores have started stocking more fresh vegetables since the pandemic forced people to spend more time at home -- and made them a profit center.
Korea JoongAng Daily Sitemap