Now a meal can cost $22 in South Korea

• South Koreans are sick of paying excessive food prices.
• Customers yearning for inexpensive fried chicken at Homeplus.
• A hypermarket chain had just dropped 12%.

A 35-year-old YouTuber named Clark Park is just one of many South Koreans who are sick of paying excessive food prices.

In order to join the massive crowd of customers yearning for inexpensive fried chicken at Homeplus, a hypermarket chain that had just dropped 12% off its already steeply discounted prices, he grabbed his camera and did so one August morning.

According to Park, who spoke to CNN Business, “there were already over 50 people lined up,” and many showed out early and waited for well over an hour. “As soon as the deli opened, we all rushed there simultaneously. I first saw the trend for fried chicken at that time.

Fried chicken has long been a consumer favorite in South Korea. However, recent increases in food costs across the board have made it clear that the country is struggling with inflation.

According to government statistics, the average price of fried chicken in South Korea increased 11.4% in August compared to the same month a year prior, exceeding price increases for other popular food products like kimchi stew or beef barbecue.

Depending on how much restaurants or supermarkets pass along their prices to customers, consumers may be feeling the pinch even more: According to Jeong Woo Park, a South Korean economist at Nomura, retail chicken costs have “gone up by more than 50%” in some situations over the last two years.

Due to the recent rise in food costs, people all over the world have been experiencing comparable hardships. Images like the chicken run at HomePlus serve as a reminder of how households are coping with broader inflation, which has reached 5.7% in South Korea.

They also draw attention to how much of the nation’s food is imported.

“National food”

In South Korea, fried chicken has a significant cultural role, much like British fish and chips, which have also increased in price this year. It’s not unusual for clients to pick it up many times per month because many people consider it to be a must-have snack at sporting events.

Any traveler to the nation will undoubtedly come upon a local “chimac” (chicken and beer) restaurant. That’s because, according to the government, one in every 20 restaurants serves chicken.

Only the much more populous United States and China are bigger markets for fried chicken than South Korea, according to data from market research firm Euromonitor International.

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