"Holiday Table Setup Is Daunting"... 'Convenience Foods' Instead of Soaring Vegetables and Fruits

January Fresh Food Index Rises 5.7% Month-on-Month
Paprika, Pumpkin, Eggplant Increase Over 30%
Growing Demand for Convenient Meals Saving Money and Time

#Jeong, a housewife in her 50s living in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, has growing concerns ahead of the Seollal holiday. Although she is happy to have her family gather after a long time, she is hesitant to open her wallet as prices for vegetables like spinach and pumpkin, as well as fruits like pears and apples, have soared. Jeong said, "This holiday, I am thinking of buying meal kits or ready-to-eat meals for the ancestral rites table."

As fresh food prices surge ahead of the Seollal holiday, making it difficult to prepare a table by purchasing ingredients directly, more people are preferring convenient meals that save both time and money.

According to the Consumer Price Index trends announced by Statistics Korea on the 3rd, the fresh food index in January was 130.66, up 5.7% from the previous month. Specifically, paprika rose 43.4%, pumpkin 40.6%, eggplant 36.1%, cucumber 30.0%, green chili pepper 24.4%, tangerine 23.4%, and green onion 14.0%.

Due to the rising cost of groceries day after day, the burden of holiday table expenses has increased, leading to a growing demand for convenient foods. Although not as abundant as homemade dishes, these meals require less cooking time and offer a reasonable price to complete a meal.

In fact, according to SSG.com, sales of frozen home meal replacements (HMR) used for Seollal ancestral rites tables from January 20 to 26, three weeks before the holiday, increased significantly compared to the same period last year. Among frozen convenience foods on SSG.com, sales of jeon (Korean pancakes) rose overwhelmingly by 163%. Items such as 'Buchim Master Skewered Meat' and 'Baekban Journey Beef Yukjeon,' which can be easily cooked with a frying pan or air fryer and served immediately, ranked among the top-selling menus.

Ingredients for making tteokguk, a representative Seollal dish, are also popular. Sales of dumplings and jeonbyeong (Korean pancakes) increased by 93% compared to last year. CJ CheilJedang's 'Bibigo Handmade Rich Meat Dumplings' and Shinsegae Food's 'Hotel Collection Ho Mandu' sold well. There has also been a rise in demand for beef bone soup and ox bone broth, which are used in various soup dishes. Meanwhile, among the top 10 best-selling frozen convenience food items during the survey period, six were traditional holiday foods such as donggeurangttaeng (Korean meat patties), tteokgalbi (grilled short rib patties), and LA galbi (Korean-style grilled ribs).

In the distribution sector, competition to capture demand for Seollal convenience foods is fierce. Kurly is holding a special exhibition called 'Everything for Seollal Table Setting,' offering over 300 products ranging from fresh seafood, meat, vegetables, and fruits to various convenience foods at discounts of up to 35%. Oasis Market offers dawn delivery even on the day of the Seollal holiday. They also carefully select products loved by customers for a long time, including meat, seafood, fresh produce, and health foods, offering discounts of up to 70%.

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