"We're sending out about 2,500 premium Korean beef, known as hanwoo, chilled sets today, and starting next week we'll fill it to 4,500 and ship them."
On the 5th at 10 a.m., at the E-MART meat center in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. About two weeks before the Lunar New Year holiday, the premium Korean beef, known as hanwoo, processing line was especially busy. On the grilling line, dozens of workers gathered around the worktables were trimming the sirloin from bright red slabs of meat. Kim Jin-deok, Head of Team at the E-MART meat center, said, "This is the warm-up period."
Next to the grilling line were the bulgogi, soup meat, specialty cuts (handcrafted), and braised short ribs lines. On the specialty cuts line, premium Korean beef, known as hanwoo, top blade was sliced by machine into uniform sizes and moved along a conveyor belt, and workers packed the pieces to fit the container specifications.
The E-MART meat center visited that day is the industry's first integrated livestock product production and processing facility, opened in 2011. The facility spans a total floor area of 7,107㎡ (about 2,150 pyeong) and has 22 production lines, including premium Korean beef, known as hanwoo (7), pork (8), and imported meat (3). It supplies 45% of the livestock products sold by E-MART and produces about 70% of the Lunar New Year livestock gift sets.
Production typically increases during the holidays, but this year the volume has concentrated especially on premium Korean beef, known as hanwoo. For this Lunar New Year, the meat center is producing a total of 51 types and about 85,000 gift sets, 87% of which are composed solely of premium Korean beef, known as hanwoo. Behind this is the rise in imported meat prices.
According to the Food Industry Statistics Information (FIS) of the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT), as of the 12th, the domestic raw material price for imported beef (short plate) was 5,617 won per 100 grams, up 15.1% from a month earlier. Year over year, it surged 87.6%. The effects overlap from U.S. tariff uncertainty, a strong dollar against the won, and unstable supply at the source.
Oh Hyeon-jun, head of the E-MART meat center, said, "In the United States, drought and cold waves reduced pastures and feed crops, cutting cattle numbers, and Australia also suffered supply disruptions due to climate issues such as wildfires and floods," adding, "As imported meat prices jumped, demand shifted to premium Korean beef, known as hanwoo, which became relatively less burdensome in price."
The tilt toward premium Korean beef, known as hanwoo, is clear in actual production volume. The meat center's total output rises from 25–30 tons (t) per day in normal times to as much as 100 t during the holidays. Premium Korean beef, known as hanwoo, accounts for much of the increase. Premium Korean beef, known as hanwoo, grows from 2–3 t to 20–25 t, nearly a tenfold jump. Pork, by contrast, rises from 25 t to 45–50 t, and imported meat from 2–3 t to about 14 t, making their increases more limited than premium Korean beef, known as hanwoo.
Kim, the Head of Team, said, "If normal operating rates are about 50%, during the holidays we run at full capacity," adding, "We start earlier in the morning and continue with additional shifts." Kim added, "Most gift sets are chilled, and because their shelf life is short, we can't make them in advance. We have to produce and ship the same day." About 250 people are currently working, and during peak season, temporary staff are additionally deployed.
As more consumers look to premium Korean beef, known as hanwoo, as an alternative to imported meat, value-for-money hanwoo sets have also expanded. Practical sets around 100,000 won increased to about 120% of last Lunar New Year's level. These products minimize color and texture changes by rapidly freezing chilled premium Korean beef, known as hanwoo, prepared for grilling, soup, and bulgogi at minus 40 degrees.
They are also meeting premium demand in parallel. The volume of cow premium Korean beef, known as hanwoo, gift sets secured through direct auction increased 50% from a year earlier, and aged hanwoo gift sets also rose about 30%. Aged premium Korean beef, known as hanwoo, is produced after more than two weeks of wet-aging (vacuum-packed and chilled at a constant temperature) in a dedicated aging room inside the meat center.
E-MART says that even as volume increases, production efficiency and quality remain the same. The meat center has introduced automated processes such as slicers and vacuum and tray-skin equipment to speed up work. The work area is kept at 10 degrees Celsius or lower to maintain freshness.
Oh, the center head, said, "The meat center's operating direction is always the same," adding, "We aim to supply stores and consumers with quality products at the most reasonable prices." Oh added, "We plan to steadily expand volume and channels to boost both sales and profitability going forward."