In Korea, fruits and vegetables are almost like luxury goods, and the price is more expensive than meat.
Take the most common and common Chinese cabbage in our country as an example, if the general supermarket engages in activities, the price is 3 cents and 9 pounds, and you can buy a Chinese cabbage for one dollar.
In contrast, the price of cabbage in South Korea has reached 62 yuan a catty, which is more expensive than the price of our beef.
What is the reason for the huge difference between China and South Korea? Korean cabbage is so expensive, can it be exported from the mainland to South Korea?
How expensive is Korean cabbage?
As a developed country, South Korea has an average annual salary of 200,000 yuan. But in their vegetable market, the price of cabbage has risen by 70%, and the price of a Chinese cabbage can be sold for 62 yuan a catty.
The price of cabbage has risen, so the production cost of kimchi, which is loved by everyone in Korea, must also rise.
According to calculations, after the price of cabbage rises, the price of pickling 100 cabbages has risen directly from 900,000 won last year to 1.2 million won, which is equivalent to 6,500 yuan.
Spend 6,500 yuan, just to eat some kimchi, hey, I don't know whether to say that Koreans are rich.
The rise in the price of cabbage has not only increased the cost of making kimchi, but also triggered a series of domino effects.
This has led to a decline in cabbage sales, and it has also made cabbage growers feel at a loss.
On the one hand, consumers cannot afford to eat it, and on the other hand, the cabbage in the hands of farmers cannot be sold, and the vegetable market in South Korea has also fallen into a strange circle.
Why is Korean cabbage so expensive?
After talking about why Korean cabbage is so expensive, there will definitely be many readers and friends who are curious, so why are prices so high in South Korea? Is it only because of the "small land area"?
It can be said that the small size of the country is the main reason, but it is not the only reason. Behind the phenomenon of sky-high cabbage prices in South Korea, there is also the reason for the weak agricultural foundation of South Korea.
South Korea's small land area, and the production model has always been a small-scale, family-oriented model, coupled with the poor soil in South Korea, South Korea's agriculture has always been at a very backward level.
Seeing this, some people will definitely ask, so since the price of cabbage in South Korea is so expensive, why not import it directly from the mainland?
Part of the reason why this was not done was to protect the local farming industry in South Korea from being hit hard.
On the other hand, it is related to the Korean concept of health preservation. They believe that if they want to eat healthy, they must eat what is grown on their own land, and the so-called "one side of the water and soil to support the other side" principle, which also makes many South Koreans grit their teeth and insist on buying Chinese cabbage produced in their own country.
If you don't buy the cheap ones, you can only say that they are happy.
Why does South Korea import Chinese cabbage from the mainland?
As mentioned earlier, the reason why Koreans do not import a large amount of Chinese cabbage from the mainland is mainly due to the above two reasons, the main reason of which is the latter, of course, not every Korean strictly abides by the principle of being the same.
Therefore, in the face of the high price of Korean cabbage, South Korea still chooses to import Chinese cabbage from the mainland, if nothing else, just for the bite that every Korean is good for, that is, kimchi.
In Shandong, there is such a small town, which has made the people of the whole town rich by virtue of the "kimchi culture", and it is Renzhao Town in Shandong on the mainland.
The main ingredient of kimchi is Chinese cabbage, although Koreans want to adhere to the principle of health preservation, but kimchi is too important for Koreans, and the planting area of cabbage in South Korea is decreasing.
According to data from the South Korean Ministry of Agriculture, in 2022, the total production of cabbage in South Korea decreased by 12% year-on-year, and under this influence, the price of cabbage is also rising, with a year-on-year increase of 53.4%.
Against this backdrop, South Korea's kimchi deficit is also growing. Since 2010, South Korea has been losing money in the kimchi trade with other countries. Even in 2017, he directly lost more than 40 million US dollars.
You must know that more than 40 million dollars is not a small amount.
On the one hand, there is the Korean people's pursuit of kimchi, and on the other hand, there is the expensive cost of raw materials to make kimchi. No wonder even reporters from South Korean TV are so self-deprecating, where is kimchi, it's simply a golden dish.
Therefore, in this regard, even if South Korea does not want to import cabbage from the mainland, it has to look to the mainland because the supply of its own cabbage is really insufficient.
In terms of latitude, South Korea is similar to the Shandong region of the mainland, and both places are also close to the sea, so the climate and precipitation of the two places are also similar.
Geographically speaking, Shandong Province is also the closest to South Korea, and in terms of transportation, it can save a lot of transportation costs.
Therefore, from the above perspectives, Renzhao Town in Shandong Province can be said to occupy the right time, place and people. In order to do a good job in this big deal in South Korea, the changes in the taste of the Korean market, the cloud map and real-time weather in South Korea, and the right output and cycle are all closely watched by the farmers of Renzhao Town.
Since the 90s of the last century, Inzhao has been exporting their kimchi and cabbage to South Korea for more than 30 years.
For more than 30 years, the farmers of Inzhao Town have also been making Korean kimchi, which can be said to be practice makes perfect. An aunt who is familiar with the surface texture of cabbage can make a Korean kimchi in ten seconds, and can make two tons of kimchi in one day.
In fact, South Korea's import of kimchi and cabbage from Renzhao Town, Shandong Province, is a win-win for both parties.
The villagers of Renzhao Town have gained customers and business, and South Korea has obtained high-quality and inexpensive kimchi and cabbage, at least now the Korean people no longer have to worry about not being able to eat cabbage.