[Report] "Only the Hotteok Shop is Crowded with Customers"... Traditional Market Turns into a Food Alley

Seoul Jungang Market Faces Direct Hit from Food Ingredient Price Surge
Cold Wave Impact Raises Cucumber and Zucchini Prices
Store Composition Shifts Toward Affordable Food Items

"Since selling vegetables is not profitable, all the shops across the street have turned into restaurants. Even today, only the hotteok shop is crowded with customers."

On the afternoon of the 5th, around 4 p.m., just before the first weekend of the new year of Gapjin, Kim (62), the owner of a butcher shop at Seoul Jungang Market in Hwanghak-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, sighed as he looked down the market alley. In the past, at this time, there used to be frequent customers preparing for dinner. However, with the sharp rise in food ingredient prices, customers have completely stopped coming.

When customers occasionally appeared, merchants hurriedly put down the materials they were organizing and ran to their stalls. After briefly checking the price tags, customers soon turned their steps toward the hotteok shop, and the merchants also disappeared inside their shops with drooping shoulders. A vendor who used to sell fish at a street stall shook his head as he looked at the mackerel mixed with ice that he had not yet sold.

Around 4 p.m. on the 5th, the alley of Seoul Jungang Market was quiet.
[Photo by Lee Ji-eun]

Due to soaring food prices and the cold weather, consumer visits to traditional markets have sharply declined. Although it was expected that the commercial district would recover as the COVID-19 pandemic came to an end, the drastic drop in customers has left merchants facing a bleak outlook for the upcoming Lunar New Year sales season.

Merchants met at the market agreed that agricultural product prices have surged since the end of last year. Park (68), who sells vegetables at a stall in the market alley, said, "The price of green onions, which was about 2,000 won per bunch around this time last year, has risen to 4,000 won. Even a small handful of chives costs at least 1,000 won."

Lee (70), who sells grains and ginger at a shop, said, "Peanuts, which used to cost 23,000 won for 4 kg last year, have now jumped to 28,000 won. Previously, customers would haggle over prices, but these days, they put the goods down and leave as soon as they hear the price," shaking his head.

On the 5th, a vegetable store in Seoul Jungang Market is closed with vegetables piled up on the stall.
[Photo by Lee Ji-eun]

According to the consumer price index statistics, agricultural product prices have been rising continuously. According to the December consumer price trends announced by Statistics Korea on the 29th of last month, agricultural product prices rose by 15.7%, marking the largest increase since April 2021 (17.7%).

The sharp rise was driven by soaring prices of fresh fruits such as apples and tangerines, as well as a decrease in the supply of vegetables like cucumbers and pumpkins due to the cold wave.

According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT) Agricultural Products Distribution Information System (KAMIS), as of the 5th, the price of 1 kg of green onions was 4,308 won, up 4.18% from the previous month (4,135 won) and 20% higher than the same month last year (3,576 won). Spinach at 100g was 778 won, up 29 won (3.87%) in a month. Rice, based on 20 kg, was 56,912 won, a 13.5% increase compared to last year (50,145 won).

More merchants are feeling the economic downturn. The Small Enterprise and Market Service announced on the 29th of last month that the December Traditional Market Business Survey Index (BSI) recorded 49.7. This is lower than December last year (54), when the pandemic had not yet ended. A BSI below 100 indicates that more people expect the economy to worsen in the future.

On the 8th, customers are gathered in front of a hotteok shop at Seoul Jungang Market, ordering hotteok.
[Photo by Lee Ji-eun]

As food ingredient sales decline, market alleys are turning into shops focused on relatively inexpensive food. At Seoul Jungang Market, the area in front of food ingredient shops was quiet, while the hotteok shop was bustling with customers.

There were also continuous visits to kalguksu (knife-cut noodle) restaurants for dinner. Kim (70), who runs a salted seafood shop, said, "Since business is bad, all the shops across the alley have turned into restaurants. If only restaurants increase, the number of customers coming to shop will gradually decrease, which is worrying."

A representative of the Seoul Jungang Market Merchants Association explained, "Over the past two years, restaurants have opened inside the market. Some restaurants do manage to do business because customers come in the evening to drink alcohol."