Prices of Daily Necessities Like Razors, Sanitary Pads, and Pens
Possibility of Further Increases... Deepening Worries Amid High Inflation
Starting as early as the 18th, prices of essential daily items such as fabric softeners and sanitary pads sold at large supermarkets will increase. From the 1st of next month, prices of convenience store snacks including Gamdongran eggs and daily necessities will also rise. Following the April 10th National Assembly general election, the Domino effect on prices has continued, beginning with Coupang's surprise increase in its paid membership (Wow Membership) monthly fee and sudden hikes in chicken and hamburger prices, further intensifying consumers' perceived inflation burden.
According to the large supermarket industry on the 17th, the fabric softener brand 'Pigeon' will raise prices on 12 items by at least about 10% and up to about 20%. The sanitary pad brand 'Sofy' will increase prices on 12 items by approximately 6-7%.
Accordingly, the concentrated Pigeon fabric softener (1.6ℓ) will surge 10.1% from 9,900 won to 10,900 won, and the 'Sofy Naemome Sunhanmyeon Unbleached Inner Cover Sanitary Pad' product will increase 5.9% from 16,900 won to 17,900 won. Although there are differences depending on the supermarket, price hikes will begin as early as the 18th.
Snacks and daily necessities sold at the four convenience store chains CU, GS25, 7-Eleven, and Emart24 will also see simultaneous price increases starting from the 1st of next month. Gamdongran, a half-boiled egg product containing two eggs, and smoked eggs from Jukyeomdong will each rise from 2,200 won to 2,400 won, an increase of 200 won (9.1%). Green tea smoked eggs made from fresh chicken eggs (3 pieces) will increase from 2,900 won to 3,200 won, a 300 won (10.3%) rise, among a total of about eight items planned for price hikes.
In addition, Doruko face razors, LG Unicharm's 'Sofy Bodyfit Naemome Sunhanmyeon' sanitary pads, ballpoint pens, lighters, and other miscellaneous goods will see price increases of over 30% in succession.
The convenience store industry explained that the rise in raw material costs has led to increased supply prices. A convenience store industry official stated, "Prices of convenience store products fluctuate monthly. However, this time, manufacturers notified us of price increases due to rising production costs." He added, "The timing and scale of the price hikes will be uniformly applied across the four convenience store chains."
Earlier, Coupang raised the Wow Membership fee from 4,990 won to 7,890 won on the 12th. Following this, chicken franchise Goobne increased prices on nine chicken products by 1,900 won each, and Popeyes raised product prices by an average of 4% (100 to 800 won). BBQ has refrained from raising prices since increasing major product prices by 2,000 won in 2022, but due to last year's rise in raw material costs, it reduced the proportion of extra virgin olive oil to 50% to cut costs.
Moreover, with recent sharp increases in prices of food raw materials such as cocoa and sugar, price hikes for snacks, beverages, and ice cream are also anticipated. According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT), cocoa prices, which maintained an average of 2,000 to 3,000 dollars per ton monthly from January to October last year, exceeded 10,000 dollars on the 1st of this month. This represents a fivefold surge in price. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the sugar price index averaged 145.0 last year, a 26.6% increase from the previous year. Although the sugar price index slightly decreased to 136.7 in the first quarter of this year, it remains 19.4% higher compared to 2022.
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