More than 40 percent of respondents said they bought processed food products once a week. (image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Around 60 percent of South Korean households purchased ready-made food over the past year, with dumplings and pizza being the most popular, data showed Wednesday.
According to the findings by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the two dishes were the most popular ready-made food products, followed by instant noodles and gimbap, a rice roll in sheets of dried seaweed.
The survey was conducted on 2,021 households from July to August last year. It also made a deeper study of the account books of 500 households.
Those living alone tended to spend more on such products. A single-member household spent 71,517 won (US$63.40) on buying such food per month, compared to 49,267 won (US$43.68) per person in a four-member household, the data showed.
Around 28 percent of the respondents said they will increase the amount of ready-made food they purchase in the future, far outpacing the 1.2 percent planning to buy less. They claimed ready-to-eat products were satisfactory in terms of convenience, variety, taste and overall quality.
More than 40 percent of respondents said they bought processed food products once a week, with households with higher income and more members tending to do so more frequently.
There was solid demand for health-related products, such as extracted juice, honey and vitamin pills, as well as goods containing beneficial substances approved by the local food safety authority.
Family members under 10 consumed probiotics-rich products, while those over 60 preferred supplements made with ginseng.
(Yonhap)
