"Have to Save on Food Expenses"…Young People Doing 'Closing Run' to Buy Discounted Products [Cheongchun Report]

'Last-minute buying' to purchase discounted products
Cutting food expenses to reduce living costs
Movement to reduce food expenses also in China

As high inflation continues, more young people are engaging in so-called 'magam-run' to save on living expenses. 'Magam-run' refers to heading to stores to purchase clearance items before they close. Unlike 'open-run,' where people rush to buy luxury or high-priced goods first, 'magam-run' is characterized by the desire to buy the same products at a cheaper price due to their approaching expiration date.

The burden of 'table prices' continues... "At least we need to save on food expenses"

An employee is organizing lunch boxes at a convenience store in Seoul. The photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]

As the cost of food on the table soars, the burden of food expenses on young people is increasing. According to the 'June Consumer Price Trends' released by Statistics Korea, consumer prices last month rose 2.4% compared to the same month last year. This is the lowest rate of increase in 11 months since July last year (2.4%).

However, the fresh food index, interpreted as 'table prices,' rose 11.7% compared to last year. Although the increase rate narrowed compared to the previous month (17.3%), it has shown a rise of over 10% for nine consecutive months, indicating that the price burden continues.

Given this situation, more young people are considering ways to save on food expenses. Among disposable income after deducting essential expenses such as taxes, food expenses are the easiest to reduce. Jo, a 28-year-old office worker in his second year, said, "Since almost everything has gone up these days, I try to save on food expenses by using traditional markets and aiming for supermarket closing sales," adding, "Fruits are too burdensome to eat alone, so I end up not eating them."

Visiting supermarkets and convenience stores at closing time to save even a penny

Citizens are shopping at Hanaro Mart Yangjae Branch in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Like Jo, many young people are not hesitant to do 'magam-run' at large supermarkets. In the past, there was a strong reluctance to buy products close to their expiration date. However, due to the recent high inflation, more people are deliberately purchasing products at closing time.

For example, supermarkets usually start closing discounts on major food items from 7 p.m. The discounted items often include fresh foods with high daily demand such as vegetables, seafood, and meat, as well as deli corner menus like sushi. Office workers can buy products at a slightly cheaper price after work during this time.

Meanwhile, many also turn to convenience store lunch boxes to reduce food expenses. Especially among young people, some engage in magam-run to eat cheaper convenience store lunch boxes. Convenience stores sell food items nearing their expiration date at prices lower than the regular price. Since products must be discarded after the expiration date, convenience stores try to sell them cheaply, and the demand from young people trying to save on food expenses matches this.

Chinese MZ generation seeks 'poor man’s menu'

As consumer sentiment weakened in China, companies consecutively launched so-called 'poor man's meals.'
[Image source=Baidu]

This trend can also be easily found in neighboring China. Among the younger generation in China, there is a growing movement to seek 'chonggui (窮鬼) menu.' 'Chonggui' means 'poor person,' referring to food that is cheap enough for a poor person to afford. It can be seen that young Chinese also spare no time or effort to find inexpensive food menus.

For example, on Chinese social networking services (SNS) like Xiaohongshu, posts sharing combinations of cheap meal menus called 'poor man’s packages' or brand-specific discount information are overflowing. They recommend cost-effective menus for a week, such as "Eat free McNuggets at McDonald's on Monday, enjoy 1+1 events at Twosun on Tuesday, buy Domino's Pizza at 30% off on Wednesday, get discounts at KFC on Thursday, and eat half-price burgers at Burger King on Friday."

Local media explained, "Amid economic recession and sluggish consumption, Chinese people have started to carefully budget their dining out expenses, and the food service industry is forced to offer subpar menus to survive."