Suffocating Dining Prices... 'This Item' Selling Well Due to Demand for 'Home-Cooked Meals'

Home Shopping Airtight Containers Surge 245%
Thanks to Reduced Dining Out and Increased Home Meal Demand
Single-Person Households and 3040 Working Moms Increase Airtight Container Purchases

As dining-out prices soar, airtight containers are selling like hotcakes. This is due to the explosive increase in demand from people trying to prepare meals at home.

According to CJ OnStyle on the 13th, orders for airtight containers last month increased by 65% compared to a year ago. With demand to replace airtight containers ahead of the holidays reflected, orders grew by 245% compared to the previous month. GS Shop also saw explosive demand for airtight containers. Over the past month, orders for airtight containers surged 176% year-on-year. For example, the ‘Glasslock Hetbap Container (7 pieces)’, priced affordably in the 20,000 KRW range, sold 12,552 sets in just one hour on the 29th of last month. Lotte Home Shopping also recorded a 70% increase in airtight container product growth over the past three months compared to the previous year.

The dining-out prices, a key indicator of perceived inflation, are still soaring. The photo was taken on the 17th in a restaurant district in Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The sharp rise in dining-out prices has led more people to eat ‘home-cooked meals,’ which has driven up orders for airtight containers. According to the Korea Consumer Agency’s Cham Price data, 200g of samgyeopsal in Seoul approached 19,429 KRW, jajangmyeon was 7,069 KRW, and samgyetang reached 16,846 KRW. Kalguksu was recorded in the 9,000 KRW range. As a result, single-person households who used to dine out frequently, busy dual-income couples, and working moms had no choice but to purchase kitchenware that can store food or reduce the hassle of cooking.

The improved technology of airtight containers also played a key role in the increase in sales. Previously, airtight containers were limited to storing food. However, recently, vacuum technology has been incorporated to keep food fresh up to 2 to 5 times longer. This makes storage more convenient. Although the price is higher than traditional airtight containers, the ability to prepare large quantities of food on weekends and portion them into airtight containers to quickly have meals during weekdays without long cooking times has led to explosive demand, especially among working moms and single-person households.

In fact, CJ OnStyle’s ‘Baqen’ container, which creates a vacuum inside the airtight container to maintain food freshness for a long time, achieved sales of 400 million KRW in just one hour on mobile live commerce. This was the first time airtight containers sold 400 million KRW worth on that channel. Regarding the age group of buyers, 50.3% were aged 35-44, followed by 25-34 years old (20%) and 45-54 years old (19%).

The same vacuum airtight container, ‘Tupperware,’ generated 1.3 billion KRW in sales within one hour during a GS Shop TV broadcast. A home shopping industry official explained, “Airtight containers are a representative item that benefits from economic downturns such as high inflation.”

As dining out decreases, sales growth rates of kitchen appliances that make home-cooked meals easier are also on the rise. According to Electronic Land, sales of electric ovens and electric ranges last month increased by 26% and 17% respectively compared to the same period last year. Dishwashers, which improve dishwashing convenience, also saw an 11% increase in sales during the same period.