Ministry of Agriculture to Provide Agricultural Product Discounts Until June 4 to Stabilize Table Prices

Up to 40% Off Selected Domestic Agricultural Products
Maximum Weekly Discount of 20,000 Won Per Person Available

The government has decided to provide discounts on agricultural products to ease the burden of "table prices" for consumers, as demand for home-cooked meals has increased recently due to rising food and dining-out prices.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on May 16 that it discussed the "Agricultural Products Discount Support Program for Table Price Stabilization" at the 45th Vice Ministerial Meeting on Price Management, chaired by Kim Bumseok, Acting Minister of Economy and Finance. The discount program will run for 14 days, from May 22 to June 4.

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An official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs stated, "This program was planned to promptly implement livelihood support projects and enhance the effectiveness of easing consumers' table price burdens, following the securing of a 120 billion won supplementary budget for agricultural and livestock product discount support. All domestic agricultural products are eligible for government discount support, and each distributor can freely select the items to be discounted according to their circumstances."

Distributors are required to add an additional 10 to 20 percentage points of their own discounts to the discounted items. As a result, consumers will be able to purchase domestic agricultural products at up to 40% off at large and small supermarkets, regional Hanaro Mart stores, local food shops, and 16 traditional markets nationwide.

Discounted items can be identified through store flyers and in-store price tags (POP information). In offline stores, members of the store will receive automatic discounts at checkout, while online, customers can apply discount coupons at the payment stage. However, to ensure that as many consumers as possible benefit, the discount is limited to 20,000 won per person per week.

Hong Ingi, Director General of Distribution and Consumption Policy at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, "This initiative aims to reduce the cost burden of purchasing fresh domestic food for households, as the proportion of household food expenses is increasing due to rising food and dining-out prices." He added, "The government will continue to promptly implement agricultural and livestock product discount support programs to help stabilize livelihoods."