"I Decided to Stop Ordering Delivery and Cook at Home, But Was Shocked by Grocery Prices"

Seasonings, sauces, and convenience foods see double-digit price hikes over the past year
Manufacturers continue to cite rising material costs
Further price increases follow the fall holiday
Haitai, Woongjin, and Baskin Robbins raise prices this

Prices of major processed foods, including seasonings, sauces, frozen foods, and ready-to-eat meals, have recorded around double-digit increases over the past year. After the Chuseok holiday, additional price hikes for some items have further increased the financial burden on consumers. The food industry emphasizes that overall costs continue to rise due to higher raw material and labor expenses, raising attention as to whether further price increases for these processed products will follow.

Yonhap News

According to "Chamka Price," the comprehensive price information portal operated by the Korea Consumer Agency, as of last month, prices for some products in major processed food categories such as seasonings, sauces, cereal-based products, and processed meat products rose by around 10% to over 40% compared to the same period last year. For example, the price of Sempio Tojang (900g) in the soybean paste category jumped 46.5% from 9,121 won in September last year to 13,364 won, and Sempio Brewed Soy Sauce (500㎖) rose 9.5% from 5,967 won to 6,534 won during the same period. The Korea Consumer Agency collects and compares product prices from major offline sales channels—including large discount stores, department stores, supermarkets, traditional markets, and convenience stores—twice a month. As a result, actual retail prices may differ from manufacturer-set prices depending on retailer discount events.

In the ketchup and mayonnaise category, the price of 500g products from Ottogi reached 4,227 won and 7,261 won, respectively, showing increases of 13.8% and 11% compared to the same period last year. In the cooking oil section, Dongwon F&B's Dongwon Canola Oil (850㎖) rose 15.2% from 6,970 won last September to 8,028 won over a year. In the frozen dumplings category, Pulmuon's Yalpi Packed Rice Water Dumplings (1kg) rose 25.4% from 9,531 won to 11,949 won. Meanwhile, in the soup and stew section, CJ CheilJedang's Bibigo Yukgaejang (500g) was 6,575 won last month, up 21.8% year-on-year, and in the bread section, Samlip's Butter Roll Classic (pack of 21) saw a 9.7% increase to 6,042 won.

This trend appears to result from food manufacturers raising prices of major product lines around the time of the local elections on June 3. They cited increased costs of raw and subsidiary materials, attributing these to the strong U.S. dollar and the impact of the Middle Eastern war between the United States and Iran.

Specifically, in July, CJ CheilJedang raised prices for 27 processed food items by an average of 8%. In August, companies such as Nongshim, Ottogi, Samlip, Sajo, and Pulmuon adjusted factory prices for cup noodles, snacks, bread, and frozen foods by nearly double-digit rates.

After a brief lull, the trend of processed food price hikes gained renewed momentum following the Chuseok holiday and into this month. Baskin Robbins decided to increase prices for 46 products, including 16 types of ice cream and 30 beverage and other items, by an average of 5.9% starting from October 12. As a result, the price of "Single Regular" ice cream will go from 3,900 won to 4,300 won, "Quarter" ice cream from 18,500 won to 19,900 won, and Cafe 31 Americano from 5,300 won to 5,500 won.

Haitai Confectionery & Foods also raised the prices of 25 key brands, including Oh Yes, Homerun Ball, Pocky, and Gohyang Dumplings, by an average of 7.8%. Among five brands—Ppase, Osatsu, Honey Butter Chip, Garubi Potato Chip, and Ice Cool—a total of 14 products saw a reduction in weight, effectively resulting in a price increase.

An industry official explained, "Due to changes in external conditions such as rising international oil and raw material prices, the burden of manufacturing and logistics costs has continued to increase, further intensifying cost pressures. Although we have absorbed these rising costs internally through management efficiency and cost-saving efforts to help stabilize prices, we concluded that it is no longer possible to bear these pressures internally and decided to adjust product prices to reflect reality."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.