The effect of high prices? What's the best beef for Lunar New Year's gifts?

■ Broadcast: YTN Radio FM 94.5 (09:00-10:00)
■ Host: Reporter Cho Tae-hyun
■ Air date: January 13, 2025 (Monday)
■ Dabble: Kim Hye-kyung, Assistant Manager, Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation
◇ Reporter Cho Tae-hyun (hereinafter referred to as Cho Tae-hyun): It's a week to look at the vivid price information of traditional markets and hypermarkets to find out what the most delicious and cheap seasonal food is, <Shopping Basket Live Price>. Today, we are with Kim Hye-kyung of the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation. Hello, assistant manager.

◆Kim Hye-kyung, Assistant Manager of the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (hereinafter referred to as Kim Hye-kyung): Yes, hello.

◇ Cho Tae-hyun: Last week, it really went down to minus 10 degrees Celsius. It was really cold. AT is located in Naju, South Jeolla Province. Was it that cold there, too?

◆Kim Hye-kyung: It was cold because it snowed a lot.

◇ Cho Tae-hyun: I think it also affected the price of agricultural products this week in the weather, what do you think?

◆Kim Hye-kyung: Tomatoes and strawberries were cheaper this week compared to the previous week. In the case of tomatoes, the price fell by 10% compared to the previous week to 6,200 won per kilogram. While tomato shipments are stable, consumption has been dispersed to winter fruits such as strawberries and tangerines, which has reduced demand for tomatoes and lowered prices. Strawberries were 10 percent cheaper at 2,470 won per 100 grams. Although the price is higher than usual, the price is gradually stabilizing as it is shipped stably from Sancheong, Gyeongsangnam-do, and Nonsan, Chungcheongnam-do. In the case of enoki mushrooms, it fell 10% to 530 won based on 150g, and in the case of seafood, oysters were 23,000 won based on 1kg, which was 6% cheaper.

◇ Cho Tae-hyun: Tomatoes, strawberries, enoki mushrooms, and oysters were cheap, what items did the price increase?

◆ Kim Hye-kyung: Yes. This week, the price of sweet potatoes, abalone, and cucumbers increased slightly. In the case of sweet potatoes, it was 4,890 won based on 1kg of chestnut sweet potatoes, up 3.7% from the previous week. In the case of abalone, the price increased by 3% to 13,000 won based on five. Prices have risen due to increased demand for gift sets ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. In the case of Dadagi-Oi, the price increased by 2% to 13,000 won for 10 units. As the weather gets colder, production costs such as house heating costs seem to have been affected.


◇ Cho Tae-hyun: The national holiday is less than three weeks away, and I think a lot of people will be interested in this. I heard you conducted a survey on the trend of holiday gift sets this year.

◆Kim Hye-kyung: Yes. In preparation for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, we conducted a survey of purchase intentions for high-demand holy water and gift sets during the holiday. According to a survey of 3,000 domestic consumers, the preference for fruit gifts is still high this Lunar New Year. When it comes to gift sets, beef has always topped the list. Perhaps due to the high price trend, fruit gifts that are cheaper than beef have continued to top the list since Chuseok last year.Among fruit gifts, mixed sets topped the list, followed by apples.In addition, the average gift set budget was around 190,000 won, and 43% of respondents said they would purchase less than 50,000 won per set. In the case of holy water products, there were many responses in the order of beef, berry, and apples. Seongsu products refer to agricultural, livestock, and marine products that are high in consumption during the holidays. The budget for purchasing holy water products was around 200,000 won, similar to last Chuseok.

◇ Cho Tae-hyun: Many people say that it's more burdensome because of the high prices, but the government is holding the biggest discount event ever to reduce the price burden. What are the contents?

◆Kim Hye-kyung: Yes. In order to stabilize prices and ease the burden of shopping bags on major holy goods during the Lunar New Year holiday, the government will invest 60 billion won, the largest amount ever, to provide discount support. When purchasing holy water products at large and small stores, you can get a discount of up to 40% with a limit of 20,000 to 30,000 won per person every week. In addition, if you purchase in a traditional market, you can get a 30% discount regardless of the item through mobile gift certificate discount and Onnuri gift certificate refund event. In addition, we plan to expand the supply of radish and cabbage, which are major peak products, in preparation for supply shortages.

◇ Cho Tae-hyun: Yes, he gave us useful information today as well. This has been Kim Hye-kyung, deputy manager of the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation. Mr. Assistant Manager, thank you for talking today.