Office worker Choi Ye-sol (28), who lives in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, recently went to her neighborhood go-to restaurant for bajirak kalguksu and was told, "We changed the signature dish to seafood kalguksu." The owner said, "It's hard to get domestic bajirak, and prices have gone up too much, so we started selling seafood kalguksu with mussels and shrimp instead of bajirak."
The price of domestic bajirak has risen more than 50% over the past year. Bajirak is used to give broth flavor in various dishes. It is also used as a main ingredient in kalguksu, pasta, and soft tofu stew. Domestic bajirak is especially popular, but as domestic supply fails to meet demand, prices are rising.
According to reporting by ChosunBiz on the 27th, at large retailer A, the price per 100 grams of domestic refrigerated bajirak in shell jumped 51% in a year from 990 won last year to 1,495 won this year. At another large retailer B, a similar product rose about 44%, from 820 won per 100 grams to 1,180 won recently. The National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives auction price for bajirak also climbed from 3,043 won per kilogram in 2023 to 4,138 won last year, and to 4,240 won this year. That is a 39% increase over two years.
As a result, prices for kalguksu, which almost always includes bajirak, are also on the rise. According to the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) price information portal "Chamgagyeok," the price of kalguksu in Seoul in Nov. was 9,846 won, up 4.9% from Nov. last year. Among eight dining-out items favored by consumers, it rose the second most after kimbap (5.7%), pushing a bowl close to 10,000 won.
◇ Domestic preference is high but production is stagnant... even with more imports from China, supply cannot keep up with demand
Domestic bajirak supply consists of wild catch, aquaculture, and imports from China. Total supply fell from 50,000 tons in 2023 to the 40,000-ton range last year. This year is also expected to remain in the 40,000-ton range.
The problem is that production of domestic bajirak preferred by consumers is stagnant, while imports from China have increased only slightly. The share of Chinese products in total supply surged from 23% in 2023 to the 50% range last year and this year.
Production of domestic bajirak exceeded 40,000 tons in 2023 but plunged to the 20,000-ton range last year. Production from January to September this year was 18,000 tons, and the annual total is expected to remain in the 20,000-ton range, similar to last year. In contrast, imports from China are increasing. Chinese imports rose from 17,000 tons in 2023 to 20,000 tons last year. From January to September this year, they reached 22,504 tons, up 22.8% from the same period a year earlier.
Hwang Un-gi, head of the Tidal Flat Research Center at the National Institute of Fisheries Science's Climate and Environment Research Division, said, "Domestic products are popular because of the perception that they are 'fresh and of good quality' compared with Chinese products," adding, "Domestic production is not growing much, and many people still avoid Chinese products, so it is difficult to increase imports enough to meet domestic demand."
◇ The decrease in domestic bajirak supply is due to "climate change"... "Domestic seed development is needed"
The biggest reason for the decrease in domestic bajirak supply is cited as climate change. Bajirak can withstand temperature changes from summer to winter in Korea. However, after spawning in summer, when their condition is weakened, if the water temperature rises to 30 degrees and the tidal flat temperature to 37–39 degrees, mass die-offs occur. Last summer in South Chungcheong, 62% of bajirak died due to high water temperatures. In winter in Gochang, North Jeolla, midday temperatures rose to 20 degrees, and more than 70% were lost or died.
Currently, bajirak aquaculture involves bringing in domestic and Chinese spat (juvenile bajirak), seeding them in farms, and growing them for one to two years before harvest. For this reason, when domestic wild bajirak are lost or die, seed and aquaculture prices inevitably rise together. Hwang Un-gi said, "We need to move away from the method of directly seeding Chinese juvenile bajirak into tidal flats and overhaul the entire aquaculture system by raising domestic seeds suited to our environment and stocking them in farms."