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Why is beef so expensive here?
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Captain Corea



Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 2:36 pm    Post subject: Why is beef so expensive here? Reply with quote

Here's part of the answer

Quote:
According to a report released jointly by the country�s watchdog and the nonprofit consumer group, major department stores, large-scale supermarkets and other outlets that are mostly run by leading conglomerates took profit margins of 38.5 percent on their sales of hanwoo, or Korean beef.


Quote:
The report showed that 130 restaurants surveyed are also reluctant to decrease steak prices. Of the restaurants surveyed, only 12 have lowered prices of their sirloin and rib dishes over the past six months, while nine raised them. The rest of the restaurants left their prices unchanged.
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motiontodismiss



Joined: 18 Dec 2011

PostPosted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 4:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's the stupid middlemen. There are WAY too many middlemen in this country. Whereas you can buy steak online direct from a rancher in Nebraska in the US, it's impossible here because the harabojis that raise cattle don't even know what a computer is. I think it also has something to do with subsidies. American beef is subsidized, Korean beef not.

This and I'm willing to bet my next paycheck there's some sort of collusion going on between the conglomerates too. And the Korean "we have the best beef in the world, so we should pay more" mentality. What a load of crap. I've had Australian, American and Korean beef and really Korean beef isn't worth the absurd prices.
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darkjedidave



Joined: 19 Aug 2009
Location: Shanghai/Seoul

PostPosted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 4:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

And why is local (Korean) beef so pricer than imported (Australian) At Costso I can buy AU steak for 22,000/kg and the same Korean steak is 50,000/kg. Seems backwards considering how they ridiculously priced other imported good are
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blm



Joined: 11 Nov 2010

PostPosted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 4:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

darkjedidave wrote:
And why is local (Korean) beef so pricer than imported (Australian) At Costso I can buy AU steak for 22,000/kg and the same Korean steak is 50,000/kg. Seems backwards considering how they ridiculously priced other imported good are



I don't see many cows around in Korea.
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Harpeau



Joined: 01 Feb 2003
Location: Coquitlam, BC

PostPosted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 4:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'll eat Aussie grass-fed beef before I eat the grain-fed crap-shot beef from Korea or the U$A. BTW, is anyone aware of any U$A grass-fed beef that hasn't been shot with bovine growth hormones~being soild here in Korea? Thanks in advance.
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GoldMember



Joined: 24 Oct 2006

PostPosted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 5:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
It's the stupid middlemen.
The middlemen can't be that stupid if they are making most of the money. I'd say they are very smart.
Quote:
American beef is subsidized, Korean beef not
Korean beef is actually very heavily subsidized, to the tune of about $1,000 per cow.

Why is the product expensive? As long as the savvy Korean consumer is prepared to pay higher prices for an inferior product then it will remain so.
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Who's Your Daddy?



Joined: 30 May 2010
Location: Victoria, Canada.

PostPosted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 7:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you bother to read the linked article the problem isn't the middle men, it's the final sales step (the supermarket) raking it in.

"supermarkets and other outlets that are mostly run by leading conglomerates took profit margins of 38.5 percent on their sales."
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Yaya



Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 8:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The distributors claim that the final stage of production drives up the cost as well as distribution cost, but yes, the problem is the sellers whose greed makes it really expensive.

They need more farmers markets to cut the middlemen out.
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eamo



Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

PostPosted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 8:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Vote with your pocket. Find the nearest US beef seller and just go there.

I'm very happy with the prices of a big butcher shop near me which sells good USDA chuck-eye steaks for 2300won per 100g..........so a good-sized 400g steak is less than 10,000won.

Frozen US pork ribs are sold in packs big enough for 3-4 people for 8000won!!



In most cases though, the Korean food industry is totally messed up. It's been shown that sometimes foods go through 4 or more middlemen before hitting the shelves. No wonder the prices are nuts. But it seems there's very little inclination to do something about these middlemen as it has always been done this way so Koreans feel it's normal, and that you would be taking away people's livelihoods if you interfered.

Add greedy retailers, protections against cheap imports, and a compliant population who tend to think that higher prices = higher quality and you get food prices way above what the GDP of Korea would suggest they should be.
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northway



Joined: 05 Jul 2010

PostPosted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 9:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

darkjedidave wrote:
And why is local (Korean) beef so pricer than imported (Australian) At Costso I can buy AU steak for 22,000/kg and the same Korean steak is 50,000/kg. Seems backwards considering how they ridiculously priced other imported good are


From my conversations with Koreans, this is what I gather:

1) Many people have thoroughly bought into the advertising that declares it the best beef in the world. While you'll find Americans and Australians who really believe in their beef, they generally don't take it quite as far.

2) In a similar vein, many Koreans have fallen under the media spell of foreign beef being from sick cattle.

3) As a general rule, Koreans tend to believe that if something is more expensive it is inherently better.

4) It has to be infinitely more expensive to produce beef in this country than it is in Australia, for a whole host of reasons.
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eat_yeot



Joined: 11 Dec 2009

PostPosted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 12:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cows are more expensive in Korea. And they cost more to raise.
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GoldMember



Joined: 24 Oct 2006

PostPosted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 12:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Add greedy retailers
So someone who invests in a business and tries to maximize profits is "greedy". But an English teacher who wants to buy everything as cheap as possible, and get paid $40 an hour just to teach English is not. Don't like the greedy retailer, then don't buy. Socialist num nut!
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northway



Joined: 05 Jul 2010

PostPosted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 12:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

GoldMember wrote:
Quote:
Add greedy retailers
So someone who invests in a business and tries to maximize profits is "greedy". But an English teacher who wants to buy everything as cheap as possible, and get paid $40 an hour just to teach English is not. Don't like the greedy retailer, then don't buy. Socialist num nut!


Yeah, because $40 an hour is the norm...

In regards to the actual pricing: greed doesn't bother me in the least, but collusion does, and I think we can all agree that there's a fair amount of the latter going on here.
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eamo



Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 1:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

GoldMember wrote:
Quote:
Add greedy retailers
So someone who invests in a business and tries to maximize profits is "greedy". But an English teacher who wants to buy everything as cheap as possible, and get paid $40 an hour just to teach English is not. Don't like the greedy retailer, then don't buy. Socialist num nut!


Don't be a silly capitalist ballbag......we're talking about food! People have to buy food, you anti-genius.......lots of poorer Koreans are eating little else but kimchi and rice because your capitalist friends are setting the prices of fruit, veg and meat out of their reach!

I've no problem with unnecessary stuff like handbags and designer kitchen appliances being stupidly priced in Korea......but the price of basic foodstuffs should be controlled.

It really does beggar belief that post-2008 there are still people who think the capitalist system has built-in checks and balances which keeps everything in a kind of natural balance.......nonsense! Anyone with sense should be able to see that.
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morrisonhotel



Joined: 18 Jul 2009
Location: Gyeonggi-do

PostPosted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 1:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

eamo wrote:


It really does beggar belief that post-2008 there are still people who think the capitalist system has built-in checks and balances which keeps everything in a kind of natural balance.......nonsense! Anyone with sense should be able to see that.


Are you forgetting where you are posting?
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