[Easy Meal] Jipkok Created Jipcook... The Era of Convenient Meals

Number of Households Purchasing Product for the First Time Increases by 5.8%
Meat Ready-to-Eat Meal Market Doubles in 4 Years

[Asia Economy Reporters Hye-seon Lim, Seung-jin Lee] Due to the impact of COVID-19, the number of households choosing convenience foods instead of dining out is increasing.

According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT) and the Korea Rural Economic Institute on the 7th, the number of households newly purchasing convenience food products increased from 62.5% in 2019 to 68.3% last year due to COVID-19. Sales of convenience foods from major food companies, including instant rice, frozen foods, and seafood convenience foods, have significantly increased. By category, the meat convenience food market grew from around 270 billion KRW in 2017 to about 600 billion KRW last year. Among these, the market size of soup and stew convenience foods exceeded 300 billion KRW last year, growing 16% compared to 2019, and the cup rice market also grew by 10%, reaching around 60 billion KRW.

Although small in scale, the seafood convenience food market is also growing at an annual rate of 30%. The domestic seafood convenience food market, which was around 16 billion KRW in 2016, increased to about 44 billion KRW last year. This year, it is expected to exceed 60 billion KRW.

Professor Eun-hee Lee of the Department of Consumer Studies at Inha University predicted that the home meal replacement market will continue to expand and affect some dining-out markets. Professor Lee analyzed, "Due to the impact of COVID-19, consumers have become accustomed to home meal replacements and developed consumption habits related to them. Consumers who previously dined out can now enjoy restaurant-style convenience foods at home, which will influence the dining-out market in the future."