How much does it cost to set a Chuseok holiday table this year? The Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT) puts the bill for a family of four at 196,630 won. Korea Price Research Center, a private research firm, came up with 397,700 won at large discount chains. The two figures, both for a family of four, are nearly double one another.
According to relevant government agencies on the 24th, aT surveyed prices for 24 items needed for a holiday table on the 18th of this month at 17 traditional markets and 36 large retailers across 22 regions nationwide. The result came to 196,630 won for a family of four.
Korea Price Research Center, which conducted its survey on the 4th of this month, put the cost for a family of four at 302,500 won at traditional markets and 397,700 won at large discount chains. Both surveys illustrate the burden of holiday grocery bills, but they use different methods, producing widely divergent results.
The biggest difference lies in what counts as a "holiday table." aT based its figure on 24 items including rice, vegetables, fruit and meat, while Korea Price Research Center surveyed 36. The total also shifts depending on which pancakes, seasoned vegetables, fruits and processed foods are included.
Beyond the number of items, the surveys differ in how much of each ingredient they assume and what sizes they apply. If the number or weight of fruits and the quantities of meat and seafood differ, the basket composition and total cost will inevitably differ even for the same family of four.
Survey timing is another variable. Korea Price Research Center checked prices on the 4th, about three weeks before Chuseok, while aT surveyed on the 18th. Demand for holiday ingredients rises as the holiday approaches, but shipments of freshly harvested produce and government supplies of holiday staples also expand. Discount events at large retailers and Nonghyup pick up as well, so prices for the same item can vary by date.
Whether discounts applied at the time of the survey also affects the total. In aT's survey, the cost of a holiday table at large retailers fell 7.6% from a year earlier, while traditional markets rose 1.6%. aT cited government discount support, Nonghyup's half-price holiday table event and retailers' own discounts as factors that pulled down prices at large retailers.
At traditional markets, there is also room for a gap between what consumers actually pay and the surveyed amount. aT's survey prices do not reflect Onnuri gift certificate rebates that shoppers receive after purchase. From the 16th to the 20th of this month, the government ran a program refunding up to 30% of purchases of domestic agricultural and livestock products at participating traditional markets in gift certificates, capped at 20,000 won per person.
Apart from the differences in totals across institutions, price increases for some items stood out this year. The Seoul Agro-Fisheries & Food Corporation surveyed 34 items for a family of six at 25 locations including traditional markets, large discount chains and Garak Mall, and found the average purchase cost across the three retail channels rose 5.1% from a year earlier. Vegetables posted the steepest increase at 14.7%, followed by livestock products at 7.4% and seafood at 6.2%.
By item, pork was 18.5% more expensive than a year earlier, pears 12.7% and chestnuts 15.4%. Pollack fillet prices rose 20.1%. Dried persimmons and jujubes, by contrast, fell 12.0% and 14.5% respectively, while songpyeon rice cakes were 5.9% cheaper.
