Due to the impact of 'Geumsagwa'... 98% of consumers feel burdened by Seol holiday grocery prices

With the Lunar New Year holiday just ten days away, 98% of consumers reported feeling burdened by grocery prices. In particular, 65% said they felt a burden when it came to fruit prices.

The Rural Development Administration announced the results of the "2024 Lunar New Year Agricultural Food Purchase Characteristics" analysis on the 29th.

On the 24th, customers visiting Hanaro Mart Yangjae branch in Seocho-gu, Seoul, were looking at apples. According to a survey conducted by Korea Price Information, a professional price research organization, on the cost of ancestral rites tables at traditional markets and large supermarkets three weeks before Seollal, the cost for a four-person household this year was 281,500 won at traditional markets and 380,580 won at large supermarkets. This is the highest level ever recorded. In particular, prices of fruits and vegetables rose by more than 25%, driving up grocery prices. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Regarding the Lunar New Year grocery prices, 71% responded that they "feel very burdened," and 27% said they "feel burdened," totaling 98% who felt a burden. Only 2% answered "neutral."

The agricultural food item with the greatest price burden was fruit (65%). Due to rising fruit prices, 43.9% reduced their purchases, and 23.6% turned to buying relatively cheaper imperfect fruit. Additionally, 10.4% said they purchase fruit by taking advantage of discount events.

Although apple prices surged to the extent that they are called "Geum (Gold) apples," apples remained the most demanded fruit for purchase during the Lunar New Year. Among fruits consumers intended to buy for the holiday, 27% chose apples, 21% chose pears, and 16% chose citrus fruits. Possibly due to high prices, more consumers opted to reduce the quantity of ritual fruits while keeping their size unchanged.

The price range for Lunar New Year gifts showed different patterns between gifts for family and acquaintances. Gifts for family saw a decrease in those under 30,000 KRW (26.7% → 22.7%) and an increase in gifts over 100,000 KRW (17.2% → 21.5%), indicating polarization. The most preferred price range was 30,000 to 50,000 KRW at 26%, followed by under 30,000 KRW and over 100,000 KRW.

On the other hand, gifts for acquaintances were most preferred under 30,000 KRW at 32%. While the majority of people intended to give cash gifts over 100,000 KRW to family, fruit gifts were the most popular choice for acquaintances.

The main purchase locations for Lunar New Year gifts were large supermarkets (38%) and online (35%), forming a two-strong structure. Notably, online purchases increased by about 2 percentage points from 33% last year, highlighting the strength of online shopping. The most common reason for changing purchase locations was that the new location was cheaper, at 43.6%.

This survey was conducted online over two days, the 19th and 20th, targeting 700 consumer panelists from the metropolitan area (Seoul, Gyeonggi, Incheon) operated by the Rural Development Administration. Based on the survey results, the Rural Development Administration advised that producers should package fruits with high price burdens in small, practical sizes, and distributors should encourage purchases by offering mixed gift sets combining relatively price-stable fruits with apples and pears.

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