Vegetable prices in South Korea continue to rise in the aftermath of the heat wave this summer. As we previously reported here, packaged sales of kimchi have increased as prices of the staple dish's ingredients become higher and higher.
Data from the state-run Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corp., show that the wholesale price of Chinese cabbage, the key ingredient for kimchi, was 800 won (71 cents) per kilogram on Monday 24 October. That means one cabbage, which weighs 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) on average, costs about 2,400 won.
The price slumped 59 percent from a month earlier. Still, Monday’s price is 105 percent higher than a year earlier, when the cabbage harvest was better than previous years. A Chinese cabbage cost as much as 10,000 won at retailers, ahead of the Chuseok holiday in mid-September this year.
Vegetables and seafood are affected the most by the temperature and rainfall. Neither was good this year.
Prices of white radish, another key ingredient in kimchi, have also shot up. Per-kilogram wholesale prices of the vegetable more than tripled from 385 won a year ago to 1,250 won.
E-Mart has gone so far as to predict Chinese cabbage prices, that have managed to stabilize in the past couple of months, may “rebound should a cold spell arrive earlier, or any other unexpected weather conditions occur.”
“Gimjang will be 1.5 times costlier this year than last year,” the retailer said. Gimjang is the traditional process of preparation and preservation of kimchi.
An average household of four prepares 20 cabbages for gimjang, the kimchi-making season that usually falls in the first three weeks of November. Last year, each household spent 215,092 won on gimjang, according to Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corporation.
The Agriculture Ministry said on Monday, it will devise measures to stabilize the demand and supply of kimchi ingredients.
