"Is cherry tomatoes at this price?"... Consumers and food companies are "worried."

[Anchor]
The price of cherry tomatoes, which could be eaten without burden, is strong every day.

Consumers and food companies are also worried as high temperatures and torrential rains are expected to maintain higher-than-normal prices for the time being this summer.

Reporter Hwang Bo Hye-kyung reports.

[Reporter]
This is the vegetable section of a large supermarket.

From hard-boiled tomatoes to jujube cherry tomatoes, there are various kinds.
Not many consumers feel free to put
tomatoes in their shopping carts.

[Nam Il-soon / Hongji-dong, Seoul: These days, the price has gone up a little, so I can't buy it often, but I rarely buy it.]

[Kangseon / Namgajwa-dong, Seoul: It's an essential ingredient for making food, so I just bought it today, but I don't think I would have bought it if it was usual.]

The retail price of cherry tomatoes is around 16,000 won per kilogram.

Compared to a year ago, it increased by 30% and more than 80% compared to the average year.

Jujube cherry tomatoes are also 25% higher than usual.

The reason is that the rate of application was low due to torrential rain in Chungcheongnam-do, the main production area, due to the heat wave that continued until mid-September.

The retail price of general tomatoes is 8,300 won per kilogram, higher than usual, but the price is lower than last month, when it exceeded 10,000 won.It was analyzed that food material suppliers and others reduced demand for tomatoes due to the price burden of

.

In fact, some franchises, such as McDonald's and Subway, have removed tomatoes from their ingredients or limited their quantity.

From the end of this month, shipments will begin in earnest in the Yeonghonam region, and tomato prices will fall from now on.

However, due to sluggish crop conditions, higher-than-average prices are expected to continue for a while.

[Park Han-wool / Head of Fruit and Vegetable Observation Team at Rural Economic Research Institute: Prices will remain higher than the previous year in November due to fewer shipments than the previous year, as growth recovery was delayed due to a lack of sunlight in October]

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs plans to provide nutritional supplements at a discount to recover the tomato crop and to prevent damage from diseases and pests.

I'm YTN Hwang Bo Hye-kyung.

Filmmaker for
: Park Kyung-tae Kwon Seok-jae
Design: Ji Kyung-yoon