'Kimchi Crisis' Jongga Jip and Bibigo Kimchi All Sold Out... Supermarket and Mart Shelves Often Empty

Jongga, Bibigo, Pulmuone Pickled Kimchi Manufacturers' Shopping Malls All Show Sold Out
Customers Visiting Supermarkets and Marts Return Empty-Handed... Shortage of Supply Causes Frustration
Rising Cabbage Prices Lead to Increase in Kimpo-jok... Scarcity Intensifies

Garden e-Shop mall homepage screen. All Pogikimchi products are marked as sold out.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Housewife Lee Mo (37), who lives in Gongdeok-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, recently ran out of kimchi and tried to order from the Jongga-jip online shopping mall, which she usually orders from frequently, but all the whole cabbage kimchi on the homepage was marked as sold out. Disappointed, she tried to order Bibigo kimchi by accessing the shopping mall, but it was the same. She visited a nearby corporate supermarket (SSM) but had to return empty-handed and only managed to buy some by going early to a large supermarket on a weekend morning. A large supermarket employee hinted, “The napa cabbage kimchi on the shelves is also selling out quickly, and the incoming supply is very limited,” adding, “Quite a few customers are leaving empty-handed.”

It is truly a 'kimchi crisis.' As of the 13th, all whole cabbage kimchi products on the official online mall Jeongwon e-Shop of the market leader brand Daesang Jongga-jip are temporarily marked as sold out. The second-ranked brand CJ CheilJedang’s Bibigo kimchi is the same. On CJ The Market, the official online mall, Bibigo sliced napa cabbage kimchi 1.8kg (18,800 KRW), Bibigo white kimchi, and Bibigo young radish water kimchi are all sold out. At Pulmuone’s Pulmuone Shop, whole cabbage kimchi is also sold out and unavailable for purchase.

This year, due to prolonged monsoon rains and typhoons, the quality of napa cabbage has deteriorated and shipment volumes have decreased, causing packaged kimchi manufacturers to face difficulties in securing napa cabbage, leading to a situation where production is impossible. Due to poor harvests, napa cabbage prices have soared, and the so-called 'Gimpo-jok'?people who give up on making kimchi?have increased, causing demand for packaged kimchi to surge and the shortage to accelerate. A Daesang official explained, “Due to the long-term monsoon and typhoon damage to agricultural produce this year, we sold whole cabbage kimchi in limited quantities, but due to quality deterioration and insufficient supply, we have suspended sales only on the online mall.” CJ CheilJedang also stated that sold-out situations are unavoidable due to insufficient supply.

According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT), this year’s highland napa cabbage production is expected to decrease by 10.3% from last year to 355,000 tons. With no supply in the market, the price of one napa cabbage has recently exceeded 10,000 KRW. According to aT’s agricultural product distribution information, the nationwide average retail price of napa cabbage over the past two weeks was 10,600 KRW per head, 2.5 times higher than two years ago and 60% higher than last year when the harvest was poor. The Korea Rural Economic Institute forecasted that due to poor highland napa cabbage harvests and delayed autumn napa cabbage shipments, shipments this month will decrease by 13.1% compared to the average year, and November shipments will also decrease by 4.4% due to poor early growth of autumn napa cabbage.

The industry predicts that supply and demand conditions will not improve until early next month. An industry insider said, “Due to the typhoon, the napa cabbage fields in late summer were completely destroyed this year,” and added, “Until the napa cabbage planted afterward grows and is harvested in early next month, kimchi production is expected to face difficulties like now.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.