Highest Ever Table Setting Costs... Traditional Markets 280,000 Won · Large Marts 380,000 Won

Korea Price Information Announcement: Both Traditional Markets and Large Supermarkets Increase
Large Supermarkets Are 35% More Expensive Than Traditional Markets

The professional price survey organization Korea Price Information announced on the 24th the results of a survey on the cost of ancestral rites tables at traditional markets and large supermarkets three weeks before Seollal (Lunar New Year).

This year, the cost of an ancestral rites table for a family of four was surveyed to be 281,500 KRW at traditional markets and 380,580 KRW at large supermarkets. These represent increases of 8.9% and 5.8% respectively compared to the previous year. The cost at large supermarkets was 35.2% higher than at traditional markets. Due to steady price increases over recent years, the cost of the Seollal ancestral rites table this year has reached an all-time high.

Fruit prices had been relatively low over the past two years due to increased cultivation areas and improved growing conditions. However, this year, frequent rainfall during key production periods, various pests and diseases, and cold damage have reduced production volumes, causing prices to rise sharply. Watermelon production declined due to a long rainy season and heatwave last summer, and recently, severe cold and abnormal weather have increased greenhouse management costs, resulting in higher prices. Nut prices, which had fallen last year due to a good harvest and increased shipments, rose this year as poor harvests led to decreased production across all varieties.

There was little change in wild greens prices, but vegetable prices have risen due to the recent severe cold wave. In particular, green onions and napa cabbage, which had maintained relatively low prices after the kimchi-making season due to decreased demand and stable climate increasing supply, have seen prices surge recently due to reduced supply caused by severe cold and hailstorms. Seafood prices remained stable for many items compared to last year, but prices of Chinese croaker, affected by import volume and unit price, and kelp, whose production sharply declined due to poor growing conditions, rose for the second consecutive year.

Livestock product prices, which have formed high price levels every year, rose again this year. The increase in feed costs following the rise in international grain prices, along with increased livestock management and distribution costs due to soaring oil prices, have raised production costs, solidifying the high inflation phenomenon. Chicken prices remained unchanged, but price trends are expected to vary in response to supply conditions amid the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI) in the future.

Prices of snacks, affected by rising raw material and labor costs, and rice prices, which had fallen significantly last year, have risen again. The rise in rice prices is attributed to a decrease in rice cultivation area to a record low since the last harvest season and statistical compilation, as well as reduced production due to poor weather conditions, leading to higher prices for newly harvested rice. Conversely, prices of processed goods such as flour and cooking oil have fallen. The rise in raw material prices due to COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war had impacted primary processed foods like flour and cooking oil, but supply stabilization has led to a recovery.

Cheongju (refined rice wine) prices are expected to fall next month as Seollal approaches. In January this year, the government applied a kind of tax discount system called the ‘standard sales ratio’ to domestic distilled liquors such as soju, and from February, it plans to apply this to fermented liquors including ancestral rites liquors and other alcoholic beverages. Related liquor companies are proactively lowering product shipment prices in advance.

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