"There's No Profit in Selling It"... Gimbap Disappearing from Menus

Seoul gimbap prices up 40% in five years
Rising ingredient and labor costs add to the burden

Gimbap, once a signature menu item at Korean snack shops, is disappearing. As the burden of ingredient and labor costs grows, more shops are stopping gimbap sales.

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According to Chamgageok, the Korea Consumer Agency's comprehensive price information portal, the average price of a roll of gimbap in Seoul was 3,838 won in June, up 5.9% from the same month a year earlier.

The rate of increase in gimbap prices was the highest among the eight major dining-out items surveyed by the Korea Consumer Agency. The increase was greater than those for pork belly (4.3%), kalguksu (3.6%), naengmyeon (2.8%), bibimbap (2.7%), jajangmyeon (2.1%) and kimchi stew (1.8%).

The price of gimbap in Seoul rose 40.5% in five years, from 2,731 won in June 2021. Gimbap prices continued to rise in July, up 4.5% from the same month a year earlier.

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A sharp rise in ingredient costs is behind the increase in gimbap prices. According to the Consumer Price Index from the Ministry of Data and Statistics, rice prices rose 13.2% in the second quarter of this year compared with the same period a year earlier. Egg prices rose 9.0%, while gim prices increased 2.5%. At large supermarkets, a pack of 30 eggs costs nearly 10,000 won, 1 kg of carrots costs 4,500 won, and 200 g of spinach costs 6,500 won.

The price of gimbap ingredient sets has also climbed sharply, from the 6,000-7,000-won range a year ago to 10,000-15,000 won. The added burden of labor costs has made it difficult for shops to turn a profit. Making gimbap requires preparing a variety of ingredients, spreading out the rice, adding the fillings and rolling each piece individually. Because the preparation process is labor-intensive, labor costs are also high.

The removal of gimbap from menus is also occurring alongside a decline in the number of Korean snack shops. According to the National Tax Service's National Tax Statistics Portal (TASIS), there were 47,863 snack shop operators nationwide as of June this year. The number fell from 54,088 in November 2023 to 53,760 in December of the same year, and has declined for 31 consecutive months. This suggests that more owners are finding it difficult to run snack shops as both ingredient and labor costs rise.

Shops that remain open are also reducing the number of gimbap varieties or stopping sales to cut costs. They would need to charge more than 5,000 won per roll to cover costs, but raising prices could drive customers away, making it difficult to increase them. Shop owners are finding it hard both to raise prices and to keep them unchanged. With high inflation continuing, gimbap, once a signature menu item at Korean snack shops, is expected to remain under pressure from both price hikes and reduced sales.

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