With Korea battling its worst ever bird flu outbreak,… eggs are in short supply.
The shortfall of the basic foodstuff is casting a shadow over the Korean economy and putting a damper on consumer sentiment ahead of New Year's celebrations in the coming days and weeks.
Shin Semin reports.
Kim Hyun-sook,… who churns out tens of hundreds of Korean-style pancakes known as jeon every day,… is one of many Koreans feeling the pinch of the current egg shortage.
"It's not easy for us to raise our prices because of the conception that traditional markets serve inexpensive food."
She says the business has been losing more than it's making.
The same is true for local bakers.
"We used to get our eggs from a wholesale market,... but with the current shortage, we're seeking different retail markets, though even then it's difficult to meet our budget."
If the situation were to continue for several months,... the pastry chef says they'd have to change the kind of bread they make.
With the deadly avian influenza virus spreading,… over 27-million birds, or nearly a quarter of the country's poultry population, have been culled since the outbreak began in late October.
Most of these birds are egg-laying chickens,… and their absence has caused egg prices to shoot up.
"About a month ago,.. this carton of 30 eggs sold for 54-hundred won, or 4-dollars 50-cents. But now, the average retail prices is at least 75-hundred won, or 6-dollars 20-cents. That's a jump of nearly 35-percent from the month before,... and the highest price tag for eggs seen in over three years."
Some say the egg shortage could continue for a year or longer.
A local economic research institute projects that the economic losses could amount to 1-point-2 billion U.S. dollars.
That's if the infection rate hits 30 percent,... based on previous outbreaks.
The institute adds that the secondary and tertiary damages could even dent distributors' sales, as more local governments are prohibiting the movement of related equipment and products.
On top of that, the egg price hike could even put a damper on consumer sentiment, which is already in the doldrums.
"Consumer sentiment, which is already in a dire state due to the ongoing political scandal,... could shrink even more,… with food prices, including eggs, skyrocketing."
Despite all that,… consumers are hoping that they won't have to shell out any more for eggs than they have to during the Lunar New Year, when families gather to celebrate with grand buffets of food and drink.
Shin Se-min, Arirang News.
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