Kimchi and Rice Also Face 'Sold-Out Crisis'... Online Mall Purchases Unavailable, Supermarkets Quickly Running Out (Comprehensive)

Increased Demand for Home-Cooked Meals Due to COVID-19 and Holidays... Temporary Rice Shortage on Market Kurly
High Cabbage Prices and Growing Gimpo-jok Population... Online Malls Face Sold-Out Pogikimchi

[Asia Economy reporters Lee Seon-ae and Choi Sae-hye] Following the disappearance of kimchi from large supermarkets and major online malls, rice is also facing a sellout situation. Rice, which used to be a concern due to surplus every year, is now experiencing a situation where consumption surpasses supply due to a surge in home-cooked meal demand amid the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Newly Harvested Rice Sells Out Instantly

According to major food sales online malls on the 13th, some rice products have recently been temporarily sold out early. At Market Kurly, as of 3 p.m. the previous day, many products such as two types of rice with enhanced taste, Ttangkkeut Haenam First Love White Rice 10kg, Washed Complete Rice Sindongjin 4kg, King’s Brand Icheon Rice (Chucheong) 10kg, and two types of pesticide-free moist rice (Gawaji No.1) were sold out early. On the same day, many 2020 newly harvested rice products such as Silk Rice 10kg grown by sea breeze and Organic Brown Glutinous Rice 1kg were also sold out on Hello Nature. Emart Mall also had many sold-out rice products produced this year, including Hannune Banhan Rice 10kg, Premium Gimpo Koshihikari 4kg, and Seokmun Nonghyup Dangjin Haemaeul Rice 20kg.

A Market Kurly representative explained, "Comparing sales from October 5 to 11, excluding the holiday period when delivery was not conducted (October 1?4), grain sales increased by 61% compared to the same period last year. Especially, while 4kg packaged products were popular last year, this year, as the proportion of home-cooked meals increased, 10kg products are recording the highest sales."

An SSG.com representative also said, "From the 1st to the 11th, total grain sales increased by 15% compared to last year. In particular, 10kg rice sales increased by 29% compared to last year and 30% compared to the previous month, and sales of small packages under 10kg also increased by 38% compared to last year."

Ongoing Kimchi Shortage

In the case of kimchi, sellout situations have continued around the Chuseok holiday. This year, due to a long rainy season and typhoons, the quality of napa cabbage deteriorated and shipment volumes decreased, causing packaged kimchi manufacturers to face difficulties in securing cabbage, leading to a complete halt in production. Due to poor harvests, cabbage prices have also soared, increasing the number of so-called 'Gimpo-jok' who give up on kimjang (kimchi-making), which has further accelerated the shortage of packaged kimchi. It is difficult to even find kimchi on the online shopping malls operated by Daesang and CJ CheilJedang. Large supermarkets also receive small quantities in the morning, which quickly sell out. A large supermarket employee said, "Napa cabbage kimchi on the store shelves sells out quickly, and the incoming supply is also insufficient," adding, "There are quite a few customers who leave empty-handed."

A Daesang representative explained, "This year, due to long-term rainy seasons and typhoons causing severe damage to agricultural production, we sold limited quantities of abandoned kimchi, but due to quality deterioration and insufficient supply, sales were suspended only on online malls." CJ CheilJedang also stated that sellouts are inevitable due to insufficient supply.

Rice Supply Expected to Normalize by End of This Month, Kimchi by November

According to Statistics Korea, this year’s expected rice production is 3.631 million tons, about 3% less than last year. Although production has decreased and demand has increased, rice supply is expected to normalize by the end of this month. A Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs official stated, "Once the harvest season rice is shipped in earnest from late this month, rice prices are expected to stabilize."

The situation for kimchi is not favorable. Following poor harvests of highland cabbage, the shipment of autumn cabbage has also been delayed, with this month’s cabbage shipment volume down 13.1% compared to the average year. Due to early cold weather, the initial growth of autumn cabbage is poor, and cabbage shipments are expected to decrease by 4.4% in November as well. A kimchi industry official said, "Due to typhoon impacts, the late summer cabbage fields were completely destroyed this year. It seems that until early next month, when the cabbage planted afterward grows and is harvested, kimchi production will continue to face difficulties as it does now."

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