Lotte will be raising prices for 17 products in the new month
Cocoa prices are rising… An average increase of 12%.
Concerns about long supply and demand volatility such as production volume
Seasonal seaweed up 20%, ‘table prices’ soaring
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After the recent price hike of chicken and hamburgers, processed foods have also joined the price hike. As international cocoa prices rose, Lotte Well Foods decided to increase the prices of chocolate products, and the price of seaweed, whose domestic supply was reduced due to an increase in exports, increased by up to 20%. As the increase in product prices, which has been put on hold until the general election, appears at the same time, the expression “everything goes up but wages” comes into being.
According to the food industry on the 18th, Lotte Well Foods decided to increase the prices of 17 types of chocolate snacks and ice cream by an average of 12% from the 1st of next month. Producer chocolate products, Ghana Mild (34g), will increase 16.7% from 1,200 winners to 1,400 winners, while Chocolate Pepero (54g) will increase 5.9% from 1,700 winners to 1,800 winners.
The biggest reason for this price increase is said to be the increase in the price of cocoa, the main ingredient in chocolate. According to the ICE Futures Exchange in New York, USA, the price of cocoa futures registered $ 10,559 (about 14.5 million won) per ton on the 15th (local time). Since the previous record of $4,663 per ton (July 1977) was broken in January this year for the first time in 47 years, the price has been breaking new highs every day. The company explains that supply and demand volatility is likely to widen as cocoa production in West Africa has declined due to unusual weather and pests, and chocolate consumption is expected to increase in other sectors. Lotte Well Food is the only company in Korea that imports cacao beans and makes chocolate.
On this day, Lotte Well Food sent an official letter requesting cooperation for the price increase to its partners, saying, “We have been trying to accept (increase in product prices raw) by ourselves, but because he has crossed the border. suffer, we inevitably change the standard prices of confectionery and ice cream containing chocolate.” The company said, “Although this price increase does not reflect an increase in market prices as a whole, we have no choice but to proceed with a limited price increase only for chocolate products.”
The trend of increasing prices of processed foods is the same for side dishes. Seasonal seaweed specialty companies such as Seongseong Food, Gwangcheon Seaweed, and Daecheon Seaweed raised their product prices by 10 to 20% due to the increase in the price of the main ingredient, raw seaweed. Seongkyung Foods has raised prices of seaweed products by about 10% on average in some distribution channels, and plans to raise prices to the same level at supermarkets and online within the next month. Gwangcheon Kim also raised the prices of most products by 15-20% starting this month, while Daecheon Kim raised the prices of products such as seaweed powder by around 20% last month.
The reason for the increase in prices is that production is not keeping up with the demand for seaweed. Recently, the production of raw seaweeds that grow in the sea has decreased due to climate change, including an increase in water temperature, and overseas demand is increasing rapidly as resulting in the craze for K-food such as gimbap. According to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, seaweed exports last year reached a record high of $791 million (KRW 1.0868 trillion). Because seaweed production is strongly influenced by climate, production cannot be increased fast enough to keep up with demand.
For this reason, the price of seaweed continues to rise as domestic supply decreases. According to the Korea Agro-Fishery and Food Trade Corporation (aT), as of today, the average wholesale price of one pack (100 sheets) of dried seaweed was 10,440 won, up 12.3% from the previous month (won 9,299) and changed so far +57.9% compared to the previous trading day (6,610). For this reason, it is very likely that large seaweed manufacturers such as Dongwon F&B and CJ CheilJedang will come in soon to increase seaweed prices.
Reporter Park Eun-seo
2024-04-19 Page 21
2024-04-18 16:44:52
#Sweet #chocolate #snacks #Pepero…bitter #price #hike
