This year, Kimchi production season is approaching. Due to the price increase of kimchi raw materials such as cabbage and white radish, the South Korean government decided to establish a large cabbage storage park to help solve the problem of insufficient production capacity and storage space for small and medium-sized kimchi enterprises. At the same time, data shows that among the more than 1,000 kimchi producers in South Korea, nearly half of them were temporarily closed forever due to poor performance last year.
Korea really loves to eat kimchi, and it takes kimchi almost every meal. We know that South Korea has not been doing well recently, but we didn’t expect to be so poor that we couldn’t even afford to eat kimchi. So, what is the reason behind this? What kind of phenomena are there in essence?
1. Phenomenon: In the past month, the cabbage used to make kimchi has risen by 41%
Every year, the price of cabbage increases will be on the news. Is 45 yuan per pill considered a high price? It is 62 yuan per pill in 2020, and even 67 yuan per pill in 2009. As long as you search for the kimchi crisis, you will come to the previous round every year, and the reasons are surprisingly consistent.
- Because South Korea is about to enter the November kimchi production season, every household has to make a lot of kimchi. At this time, the price of Korean cabbage will soar.
Data from the Korean Agricultural and Aquatic Food Circulation Commune shows that in the past year, the price of cabbage used to make kimchi has more than doubled, and has risen by 41% in the past month. Another common kimchi ingredient, white radish, has seen prices rise by 146% over the past year.
Since domestic kimchi can’t be afforded, you can only import Chinese kimchi. The latest data from the South Korean Customs Department shows that in the first eight months of this year, South Korea's imports of Chinese kimchi increased by 27% year-on-year, and the imports in August surged by more than 40% year-on-year.
However, 99% of the cabbage imported by kimchi country comes from China, and to be precise, 80% comes from Renzhao Town in Pingdu, Qingdao.
- There, an aunt who is familiar with the body shape and surface texture of cabbage, can apply a cabbage evenly in just 10 seconds, and can apply 2 tons of cabbage a day; the made-up cabbage can be made into kimchi after nearly a month of marinating; then it can be packed out of customs in one day, shipped to South Korea in one day, and it can appear on the dining table of Korean in as early as 4 days.
Korea often lacks raw materials and has high production costs. Koreans complain that kimchi is simply golden carp. It is said that Inzhao Town will also specially develop cabbage varieties that Koreans like, and the seasonings are tailor-made according to different regions of South Korea. Koreans can't eat the kimchi made in China or South Korea. 2. Analysis: South Korea was forced to build a cabbage bank? Just build a leek bank and make up
Regarding kimchi, the brain circuit of Koreans is actually very explosive. Since kimchi is a Korean national treasure, they thought they would never allow Chinese people to get involved in such a pure thing, so similar news appeared in the media last year.
- Cabbage prices soared, and the raw materials are uncontrollable. Let alone, South Korea can only be forced to build a cabbage bank.
It is reported that these two cabbage storage parks cost 58 billion won (about US$40 million) and are expected to be completed in 2025. Each park has an area of 9,900 square meters. The two parks will be able to store 10,000 tons of cabbage and can pickle 50 tons of kimchi every day.
At the same time, a relevant person from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of South Korea said that he hopes the storage park can help consolidate the global status of Korean kimchi.
- We must know that in the eyes of our Chinese people, isn’t kimchi just spicy cabbage , but is it already South Korea’s only pride in this world, or is it global status? Shandong said everything was a cloud.
After all, many years ago, the kimchi in the Korean market had reached 99% of the products made in China, and Shandong accounted for 80%. Your Korean face is really big. When the price of each Korean cabbage is no less than 50 yuan in 2022, what else should I say to consolidate the global status of Korean kimchi?
Not to mention Chinese cabbage, there is an area that is easy to be overlooked is chili.Japan and South Korea are also very dependent on imports from China. When eating so-called Korean imported kimchi in China, it is very likely that cabbage and chili are made in China. The price of Korean local chili is more expensive than that of Chinese chili, and the taste and color are also different.
In my opinion, can you still have some shame? Just stop building a cabbage bank, just build a leek bank, it’s all. Besides, do leeks grow much less quickly than cabbages?
- can be seen. The core problem is that what is it that South Korea cannot eat cabbage? South Korea has not yet established a production management system for staple food (actually no agricultural product) and is also the only country among the three East Asian countries that rely entirely on the international market to maintain stability in domestic food supply.
Therefore, it is too normal for you to have food and drink in Korea to suddenly surge and plummet. As for your global status? Biden said: Why did my hands suddenly tremble!
3. Essence: Under the kimchi crisis, financial capital is running to the United States, industrial capital runs to China
Under the annual kimchi crisis in South Korea, it doesn’t matter whether kimchi is stepped on by Chinese clenched feet. This thing doesn’t have much craftsman spirit. The so-called kimchi itself is a helpless move by the ancients who couldn’t afford to eat fresh vegetables. No one except South Korea regards it as a dish.
As for why developed countries that have been certified by United Nations cannot afford to eat kimchi. Except for God's lack of strength, the most important thing is that the Korean won't be worth it. How could half of the Korean kimchi news be closed every year? I can’t find detailed data at present, but I can see one or two through other data.
- Many people are paying attention to Japan, but in fact, the South Korean economy is also bad. CPI is also rising on the rocket, and South Korea has been in the trade deficit for six consecutive months. The currency has depreciated by 20%. Now is the time to relax, but I am forced to raise interest rates with and hi .
data shows that the price of fried chicken in South Korea rose by 11.4% year-on-year; the average price of fried chicken in seaweed rice in rose by 11.5%, exceeding 3,000 won for the first time; the average price of a bowl of Korean fried noodles in was 6,300 won, up 15.3% year-on-year. What does this mean?
For example, the Korean won't depreciate against the US dollar by 26%, which is equivalent to the import of raw materials from South Korea such as oil, natural gas , coal, etc., with a 26% increase in cost, but the depreciation of the Korean won's exchange rate is equivalent to the export of Korean products to the international market and the price reduction is 26%. In other words, even if the prices of upstream bulk products remain unchanged, South Korea's manufacturing industry will have to bear the loss of a 26% increase in raw material costs and a 26% reduction in export products. How many manufacturing industries can withstand the double blow of upstream price increases and downstream price reductions? The most important thing about
- is that because of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the prices of upstream products are still soaring, so the import cost of upstream raw materials in South Korea has increased far more than 26%. You're done with this, of course not. As we all know, capital is a thing that despises the poor and loves the rich.
data shows that this year, the overseas industrial capital entering China has grown by 58.9%, Germany has increased by 30.3%, Japan has increased by 26.8%, and the UK has increased by 17.2%.
- can be seen, and this is the situation now: European, Japanese and Korean financial capital is heading to the United States, and industrial capital is heading to China. It is no exaggeration to say that if the epidemic is superimposed and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is in progress for a few more years, China will win without any loss, while Europe, Japan and South Korea will lose without any loss.
Last words: The kimchi crisis is not a crisis of the kimchi production industry itself, but a weather vane of South Korea's economic changes
How should we measure the national strength of a country? Many ordinary people think that it mainly depends on the economy, that is, to compare who has money. In fact, when competing with real big powers, it doesn’t look at money at all, it just depends on how much food, energy, minerals, and weapons you have. When fighting, money is just a piece of waste paper, and whoever has more supplies can only end up laughing.
- Academician Yuan Longping once said: A grain of food can save a country, or trip over a country. The job must be firmly in the hands of us Chinese.If a cabbage can make Asia's newly developed country South Korea unable to bear it, it only means that his good days are still there.
