Korean Women Consumers Association: "Prices of 6 out of 10 Private Brand Products from 3 Major Marts Increased"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] A survey revealed that 6 out of 10 private brand (PB) processed food products from the three major retail companies saw price increases compared to last year.

The Korea Women Consumers Association announced that from May 3 to 13, they compared prices of 773 PB products out of approximately 1,370 items from Emart, Lotte Mart, and Homeplus, and found that prices of 466 products (60.3%) had increased.

By company, Lotte Mart had 201 out of 263 products with price increases, Emart had 184 out of 336, and Homeplus had 81 out of 174 products with price hikes.

Investigation of Private Brand Products of the Three Major Retailers and the Proportion of Price-Increased Products (Photo by Korea Women's Consumer Federation)

By brand, Lotte Mart’s ‘Yorihada’ had the highest proportion of price increases, with 140 out of 159 products rising, accounting for 88.1%. This was followed by Lotte Mart Choice L (77.1%), Homeplus Simplus (60.0%), Emart No Brand (55.6%), and Emart Peacock (54.3%).

Additionally, the number of price-increased PB processed food products from the three major marts has shown an increasing trend every year. The proportion of PB products with price increases among those with comparable prices was 60.3% this year, up 47.2 percentage points from 13.1% in 2019, and 28.8 percentage points from 31.5% last year.

The product category with the highest rate of price increase among PB products was cooking oil (26.9%), followed by flour (25.2%), kimchi (16.5%), noodles (somyeon) (16.5%), and sugar (12.9%).

The Consumers Association stated, “Despite the continuous rise in prices of PB products from major retailers, it is difficult to compare prices, so monitoring is necessary,” and added, “It is crucial for retailers to make voluntary efforts so that PB products can establish themselves as items that alleviate the shopping burden for ordinary people.”