Government Holds Meeting with Food and Dining Industry... Urges "Participation in Price Stabilization"

The government has decided to meet with the food and dining industries to urge restraint on price increases. This is to convey the message to the food and dining sectors to 'cooperate with the government's efforts to stabilize prices' after consumer prices, including dining out and processed food prices, rose by 5-6% year-on-year last month, pushing the consumer price inflation rate back into the 3% range for the first time in three months.

On the 7th, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced that on the afternoon of the 8th, Vice Minister Han Hoon will preside over a meeting with representatives from major food companies and dining franchise businesses.

The meeting will be attended by 12 food companies including CJ CheilJedang, Ottogi, and Nongshim, as well as 10 dining companies such as Starbucks, Lotteria, and Kyochon F&B.

This meeting was arranged to share the consumer price situation and the status of processed food and dining prices announced on the 5th with industry stakeholders, emphasizing the need for stronger cooperation between the government and the food and dining industries to stabilize prices for Chuseok holiday meals and to ensure the stability of everyday life for ordinary citizens. In August, processed food prices rose by 6.3%, and dining prices increased by 5.3%.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the government has been continuously implementing measures to ease cost burdens on the food and dining industries, including applying tariff quotas on 34 major food raw materials, raising the limit on input tax credit for duty-free agricultural products, extending the application period for increased input tax credit rates for small individual restaurants, and improving regulations on foreign labor.

At the meeting, the government also plans to listen to various difficulties faced by the industry. Vice Minister Han said, "We will actively identify ways to ease cost burdens and improve regulations for the food and dining industries and broadly discuss measures to enhance the competitiveness of the food industry. Through this, we will ensure that the food and dining sectors can participate in price stabilization."

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