Lunar New Year Table Set in No Time with Home Meal Replacements for Just 120,000 Won

Greeting Mall and Market Kurly HMR holiday table shopping
Holiday spread possible for 120,000 to 150,000 won or less
Cheaper than 230,000 won at traditional markets and 270,000 won at large discount stores

As the cost of preparing holiday meals has risen every year, more consumers are turning to home meal replacement (HMR) products to get ready for the holidays. HMR products not only allow dishes to be completed with simple cooking, but are also much more affordable.

On February 13, The Asia Business Daily filled an online cart at Greeting Mall, operated by Hyundai Green Food, with 500g of LA-style short ribs, 900g of marinated beef bulgogi, 220g of beef radish soup, one 100g Yeonggwang dried yellow croaker, three kinds of seasoned vegetables, 353g of japchae, 400g of mung bean pancakes, 500g of mini meat patties (donggeurangttaeng), 450g of assorted skewers (omisanjeok), 265g of Korean beef bone rice cake soup, plus 300g of pollock slices, 15 cage-free eggs, and 450g of frying mix to make fish jeon, an essential dish for the holiday table. The total came to 143,500 won.

At Market Kurly, a holiday table could be set for 120,393 won with 500g of LA-style short ribs, 650g of beef bulgogi hot pot, 600g of Korean beef soup for rice cake soup, one 110g Yeonggwang dried yellow croaker, 200g of three kinds of seasoned vegetables, 400g of japchae, 400g of mung bean pancakes, 200g of pollock jeon, 200g of mini meat patties (donggeurangttaeng), 450g of assorted skewers (omisanjeok), and 605g of Korean beef bone rice cake soup.

Hyundai Green Food Greeting Mall holiday table set offerings.

According to the Seoul Agro-Fisheries & Food Corporation, the cost of purchasing holiday ingredients at traditional markets for this Lunar New Year rose 4.3% year-on-year to 233,782 won, while the cost at large discount stores increased 4.8% to 271,228 won. A holiday table centered on HMR products is therefore much cheaper.

Sales at Hyundai Green Food's Greeting Mall and at Market Kurly in the run-up to the holidays have been increasing every year. For HMR products sold on Greeting Mall, sales during the two weeks before each holiday have posted double-digit growth every year from 2020 through last year's Chuseok. In particular, sales of holiday table-setting products during the two weeks before last year's Lunar New Year surged by as much as 164%.

Market Kurly also saw sales volumes of holiday table-setting products for Lunar New Year and Chuseok in 2024, and for last year's Chuseok, increase by 36%, 17%, and 12%, respectively, compared with the immediately preceding holiday. A food industry official said, "As grocery prices are rising rapidly and holiday table settings are becoming simpler, more customers are preparing for the holidays by using home meal replacement products that can be cooked easily at reasonable prices."

Market Kurly pre-holiday lineup.

Meanwhile, both Greeting Mall and Market Kurly offer holiday table-setting items not only as individual products but also in sets, which can be delivered on a reserved date. Depending on the number of people, the holiday table-setting sets can serve up to 15 portions, and prices range from 200,000 won to 750,000 won.

Lee Junyoung, a professor in the Department of Convergence Management at Sangmyung University, said, "A practical culture that omits formal procedures has taken root," adding, "In that process, home meal replacement products appear to have expanded even into holiday table dishes, and as the number of single-person households increases, the consumption trend of 'convenience premium'—willingly paying for convenience—seems to have become the norm."

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