Cost of making kimchi declines as key ingredient prices decrease: aT

Kimchi ingredients [Courtesy of aT]

South Korean households are spending an average of 218,425 won ($166.51) making 20 cabbages worth of kimchi as of Monday, according to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT), a 9.4 percent down from a year ago.

To measure the average cost, the Korean state-run enterprise specializing in the agricultural industry tracked the prices of 14 kimchi ingredients from 16 traditional markets and 34 retail stores across the country.

The price of cabbages, the key kimchi ingredient, fell 13.8 percent on year, while that of white radish fell 45.1 percent.

“Cabbage supply has been on the rise with a growing number of suppliers, which would lead to further price decreases,” according to a representative from the aT.

Prices of peeled garlic and onions dropped by 32 percent and 25.7 percent, while those for salted shrimp and salted anchovy sauce fell by 11 percent and 5 percent respectively. Green onions and ginger saw price increases of 13.9 percent and 9.9 percent respectively, but the price of salt jumped by 14.6 percent.