Kimjang Season's 'New Trends'... Easily Making Kimchi or Just Buying It

Emart Sees 30% Increase in Pickled Napa Cabbage Sales
Kimchi-Making Kits Popular on Online Mall
Diversification in Ready-Made Kimchi Purchases

A model is introducing pickled napa cabbage and kimchi seasoning products at Homeplus Mega Food Market Gangseo branch in Seoul. (Photo by Homeplus)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chunhan] As the kimchi-making season fully begins, kimchi kit products are gaining popularity. With more people trying to make kimchi themselves in a convenient way, various products such as salted napa cabbage and kimchi seasoning are being released.

According to Emart on the 17th, pre-order sales of salted napa cabbage from the 27th of last month to the 2nd of this month increased by 30% compared to the previous year. For the first time this year, kimchi kits including salted napa cabbage and seasoning sauce were introduced, receiving a good response among young housewives. At Homeplus, from the 1st to the 14th of this month, sales of salted napa cabbage increased by 58% for 5kg and 40% for 10kg, while kimchi seasoning sales rose by 12%.

Convenient kimchi products are also popular on major online malls. At Market Kurly, sales of the set including 20kg salted napa cabbage and 10kg kimchi seasoning increased by 26%. This product allows easier kimchi-making by simply mixing the pre-made seasoning with the salted napa cabbage. If desired, additional ingredients can be added to adjust the taste. For salted napa cabbage alone, purchases in 20kg units were common. Among total sales, 20kg products accounted for 73%, and 10kg products accounted for 27%. On 11st, salted napa cabbage sales increased by 13%, and on Gmarket, kimchi seasoning sales rose by 14%.

Purchases of ready-made kimchi products have also surged. At Emart, packaged kimchi sales grew by 24.1%. The proportion of small-sized kimchi purchases under 2kg decreased from 58.1% last year to 57.2%, while the proportion of large-sized kimchi purchases over 2kg slightly increased from 41.9% to 42.8%. At Lotte Mart, ready-made kimchi sales increased by 15%, and at Homeplus, by 12%.

Kimchi purchases are gradually diversifying beyond napa cabbage kimchi to include green onion kimchi, cubed radish kimchi (kkakdugi), and more. At Market Kurly, napa cabbage kimchi accounted for about 40% of total sales, followed by white kimchi and green onion kimchi. In terms of sales growth rate, kkakdugi (40%), chive kimchi (37%), and cucumber stuffed kimchi (oi sobagi) (31%) increased significantly. On 11st, green onion kimchi (43%), water kimchi (41%), and young radish kimchi (29%) showed high growth rates and gained popularity.

An industry official said, "Recently, with the kimchi-making season, convenient kimchi kit products are receiving a good response. The increase in single-person households and rising demand for convenience foods are clearly leading to a preference for purchasing as needed. In the case of ready-made products, the number of customers seeking various specialty kimchis is steadily increasing."