SEOUL, Oct. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s leading food delivery platform Baemin is facing fresh criticism over allegations that it tacitly allowed restaurant owners to inflate menu prices before applying promotional discounts, effectively misleading consumers. According to a report released Monday by the Fair Platform Business Owners Association (or For Fair Platform), a Baemin [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — As wine consumption rises with the arrival of autumn, South Korea’s convenience store chains are racing to differentiate their wine selections, forging partnerships with global distributors and wineries to appeal to increasingly sophisticated local palates. GS25 said its smart liquor pre-order platform, Wine25Plus, has recorded 500 million won ($365,000) in [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — Once a symbol of comfort and affordability, fried chicken has become an expensive indulgence for many South Koreans, as soaring prices trigger public frustration and social media backlash over what consumers are calling “chickenflation.” “I tremble when paying for chicken these days,” said Lee, a 27-year-old college student in Seoul. [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — As soaring bakery prices push past 10,000 won for just a few items at franchise shops, Koreans are increasingly turning to low-cost private label (PB) bread sold at convenience stores and large retailers. The shift has fueled what industry insiders are calling a “budget bakery boom,” with PB bread [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s imports of coffee beans jumped sharply from a year earlier in 2024, with imports this year widely expected to reach an all-time high, customs data showed Thursday. Imports of coffee beans, including both raw and roasted products, came to US$1.24 billion last year, up 13 percent from $1.1 billion the previous year, [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea ranked second after Vietnam in per capita consumption of “ramyeon,” or instant noodles, in 2024, a global industry association said Thursday. South Korea’s overall ramyeon consumption reached 4.1 billion units last year, ranking eighth worldwide, while its per person consumption stood at 79.2 in the country of [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — Food prices in South Korea have risen more than 20 percent over the past five years, far outpacing overall inflation and placing a growing strain on household budgets. According to data released Wednesday by the National Data Office, the consumer price index for “food and non-alcoholic beverages” in September [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s leading food delivery platform Baedal Minjok (Baemin) is seeing surging demand for its “One Bowl” service, which targets the country’s rapidly expanding population of single-person households. According to the company, cumulative orders for the service — launched in April — exceeded 10 million by the first week [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — What began as a side business rooted in Korean culinary tradition has become a full-fledged export strategy for the nation’s top hotels. As premium kimchi gains traction among global consumers, luxury hotel brands are ramping up production and shipping abroad. According to the hospitality industry on Tuesday, Walkerhill Hotel [...]
JEJU, Oct. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — Jeju Province’s pilot program encouraging food delivery in reusable containers has surpassed 2,000 orders in less than two months, signaling strong public support for the island’s ambitious campaign to curb single-use plastics. Launched on Aug. 13 in Jeju City’s Yeon-dong and Nohyeong-dong districts, the “Yonggi-inneun Jumun” (“Courageous Order”) service allows [...]