"Honey, Should We Buy Kimchi This Year?"... Napa Cabbage Prices Fall, but Seasoning Costs Soar.

One Head of Napa Cabbage Costs 5,929 Won, Down 8.5% Year Over Year
Kimchi-Making Declines Amid Rising Seasoning Costs and Growing Popularity of Small-Pack Kimchi

Although napa cabbage prices have fallen from last year, the cost of making kimchi is rising as prices for filling ingredients such as salted shrimp and garlic soar. At the same time, more consumers are buying small portions of ready-made kimchi as needed, boosting demand in the packaged kimchi market.

Employees make cabbage kimchi at the "2025 Modu Hana Day: Love Kimchi-Making" event held at Hana Financial Group's Myeongdong headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Cho Yongjun of The Asia Business Daily.

According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation's Agricultural Products Distribution Information System (KAMIS) on October 11, the average retail price of one head of standard-grade napa cabbage last month was 5,929 won, down 8.5% from the same month a year earlier. It was also 12.7% below the average price for the past five years of 6,790 won.

Supply conditions are also expected to improve. The Korea Rural Economic Institute forecast that autumn napa cabbage production this year would reach 1.222 million tons, up 19.3% from the previous year. It also projected that napa cabbage shipments this month would increase by 2.1% from a year earlier and by 5.5% from the five-year average.

Napa Cabbage Gets Cheaper, but Salted Shrimp and Garlic Prices Rise

While napa cabbage prices have fallen, the prices of seasonings and other ingredients needed to make kimchi have instead risen. As of October 8, the retail price of 1 kg of salted shrimp was 18,973 won, up 24.3% from last year. Peeled domestic garlic cost 10,697 won per kilogram, up 4.3% year over year, while domestic red pepper powder cost 33,756 won, up 1.0%.

Making kimchi requires buying not only napa cabbage but also radishes, garlic, red pepper powder, salted seafood and other ingredients all at once. As a result, lower cabbage prices may not significantly reduce the overall cost. The combined expense and the labor involved in making kimchi have contributed to a decline in the number of households making it themselves. According to a Korea Rural Economic Institute survey, the amount of napa cabbage purchased for kimchi-making by a four-person household fell from 21.9 heads in 2020 to 18.3 heads last year.

Customers shopping at a salted shrimp market. Yonhap News Agency.

"A Little at a Time, Rather Than Making It All at Once"... Small-Pack Kimchi Gains Popularity

The share of households that made kimchi themselves also fell by 2.2 percentage points year over year to 62.3% last year. By contrast, the share that bought ready-made kimchi rose by 3 percentage points to 32.5%. The most commonly cited reason for choosing ready-made kimchi was "being able to buy only as much as needed," at 39.5%, followed by "making kimchi is a hassle," at 33.1%.

Sales of small-packaged kimchi are also growing. From January to September this year, Lotte Mart's packaged kimchi sales rose by about 5% from the same period a year earlier, while sales of packaged kimchi in sizes of 1 kg or less at Emart increased by 6.6%.

Small-pack kimchi sold on Market Kurly, available in sizes ranging from 500 g to 1.5 kg. Screenshot from the Kurly website.

At Kurly, the transaction value of all packaged kimchi rose by 35% from July to September this year. In particular, transaction value for small-pack products weighing from 100 g to around 1 kg increased by 39%, outpacing the increases of 26% for products weighing 2-4 kg and 18% for those weighing 5-10 kg.

Government Steps Up Pesticide Residue Inspections

Consumers are also paying closer attention to the safety of ingredients used to make kimchi. In response, the government is stepping up pesticide residue inspections of napa cabbage, radishes and seasoning vegetables ahead of the kimchi-making season.

From October 12 through November 30, the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service will conduct a special safety inspection of napa cabbage, radishes, green onions, ginger, chili peppers, carrots, leaf mustard, garlic and other produce grown and distributed at major production sites and traditional markets. If produce is found to exceed the permitted pesticide residue limits for its category, the agency plans to delay its shipment or dispose of it to prevent it from reaching the market.

Last year, the agency inspected approximately 800 cases of vegetables used for kimchi-making and took measures, including delaying shipments and disposing of the produce, in 13 cases that failed to meet the standards. "We will thoroughly manage safety from the production stage onward so consumers can prepare kimchi with confidence," said Kim Cheol, head of the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service.

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