The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has decided to strengthen joint investigations into unfair transactions along with supply and demand adjustments to respond to rising prices. The government plans to expand the supply of key items such as pork, eggs, and napa cabbage, and is also working to stabilize consumer prices through measures such as alleviating delivery app commission burdens and injecting budget for discounts.
On the 12th, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs stated, "If unfair transactions such as price collusion are suspected in the agriculture and food service industries, we plan to conduct rigorous investigations in conjunction with the Fair Trade Commission and other relevant agencies." Recently, the Fair Trade Commission has conducted on-site investigations targeting corporations such as Nongshim and ORION.
According to April's consumer price statistics, the livestock product price index rose by 4.8% compared to the same month last year. Among these, the price of pork increased due to rising demand for the hind leg portion used in processed food. Although demand for pork belly decreased due to economic slowdown, the hind leg and bulgogi portions are experiencing inventory shortages.
Accordingly, the government decided to apply a tariff quota (0%) to 10,000 tons of pork to secure import volumes for supply and demand stabilization. Additionally, this month, promotional discount events for pork belly are being conducted at large supermarkets using livestock promotion funds. The price of eggs has been on the rise at production sites, prompting a review of the distribution structure.
The price of processed food rose by 4.1% due to a combination of price increases in some raw materials such as coffee and cocoa, currency exchange rate increases, and increases in public utility fees. A Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs official noted, "Among 38 major food corporations, 16 experienced declines in operating profit, indicating some unavoidable aspects to the price increases."
The government increased the number of items subject to tariff quotas to 21 from 13 at the beginning of the year to reduce cost burdens on food corporations, and also applied tariff quotas to 4,000 tons of egg products. Additionally, 450 billion won is being provided to support raw material purchase funds for small and medium-sized food enterprises.
Food service prices rose by 3.2% compared to the same period last year. Major factors for the increase include labor costs, rent, and delivery app commissions in addition to ingredient prices. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs plans to reduce commission burdens by activating public delivery apps and will provide discount coupons worth 10,000 won to consumers who order three times for over 20,000 won starting next month. A supplementary budget of 65 billion won will be injected into this project, benefiting up to 6.5 million people.
In contrast, agricultural product prices showed a relatively stable trend. The agricultural product price index fell by 1.5% in April. With the increase in spring napa cabbage shipments, the price dropped from 5,596 won per head in mid-last month to 4,919 won in early this month. In response, the government has expanded its napa cabbage purchasing and stockpiling volume to 22,400 tons this year. Additionally, 7,500 tons of radishes will be purchased and stockpiled, which is 2,500 tons more than last year.
Fruit prices have also decreased due to abundant distribution volumes. As of early this month, the prices of apples and pears (based on 10 pieces) were 26,084 won and 46,474 won, respectively, showing a decrease of 5.7% and 8.6% compared to a year ago. The government plans to supply 2,500 tons each of apples and pears for government supply management until the shipment of summer fruits in July.
This year's fruit production is expected to remain at average levels overall. A Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs official stated, "The area affected by wildfires for apples is about 1.4% of the total cultivation area, and there is almost no cold damage in the main production areas for pears."
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs plans to continue to allocate the discount support budget of 120 billion won secured from the supplementary budget to focus on peak seasons such as Family Month, summer vacation, Chuseok, and kimjang to alleviate price burdens.