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Restaurants around the city are once again facing difficulties as the price of ingredients has soared meaning higher prices for lunches.
The cost of lunch recently exceeded 10,000 won in Busan, adding to the burden of office workers.
According to statistics analyzed by ‘Siksin’, which operates a mobile meal ticket service ‘Siksin e Meal Tickets’, the average meal payment amount in Busan in the fourth quarter of last year was 11,808 won, following Seoul which is the highest nationwide at 12,285 won.
Because of this ‘lunchflation (lunch+inflation)’, the use of convenience store lunchboxes by office workers has increased rapidly.
For 4,000 to 6,000 won, half the cost of having lunch at a restaurant, you can have a meal consisting of rice and five or six side dishes.
GS25 convenience store’s representative cost-effective lunch box, ‘Kim Hye-ja’s lunch box’, was re-launched this month after six years of discontinuation in 2017 and has reached number one in sales.
After the global financial crisis in 2009, Hyeja Kim’s lunch box gained popularity as soon as it was launched in 2010 for its cost-effectiveness.
The restaurant industry was hoping for a rebound after nearly three years of dealing with COVID-19 measures, however, many are finding it difficult to remain afloat as many people have begun to dine out less, make more meals at home, and look for cheaper alternatives to eat.
