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Today is December 23rd.
It is also a time when there are a lot of people who want to buy cakes, and although prices have all gone up, there are many stories that cake prices in particular have become too expensive.
The price gap is also growing, and reporter Jeong Ban-seok covered this.
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A bakery cafe in Gangseo-gu, Seoul.
Around 50 cake reservations came in ahead of Christmas.
The price, which was around 30,000 won last year, has been raised to the mid-40,000 won.
[Lee Garam/Bakery Cafe Operation: I feel that the labor cost has risen by more than 30%, including all food materials.
(Ingredients) are more expensive, so the cost is high from the producer's point of view, so there is no (profit) left.]
Large franchises are also scrambling to raise prices.
Cakes that were 27,000 won last year were 32,000 won, 29,000 won, and 34,000 won, respectively, by 5,000 won each.
The reason for this is the increase in the price of cake ingredients, such as a 36% increase in flour prices and a 4% increase in milk and eggs compared to last year.
Targeting thrifty consumers with thin pockets, large marts have put out practical products that cost less than 10,000 won.
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[Mr. Jeong/Yangcheon-gu, Seoul: It's too expensive now.
It's 40,000 won, almost 50,000 won.
I came here to buy it because it is a bit cheaper than other bakeries to eat with my family.]
On the other hand, hotels and other companies competed for high-end products, offering super-high-end cakes costing over 100,000 won.
Cakes worth 200,000 won at some luxury hotels were sold out early.
[Lee Shin-young/Parnas Hotel Public Relations Team: The 200,000 won merry-go-round concept cake was released at the end of last month and was sold out in 5 days.
MZ consumers especially bought a lot this year.] This
is one aspect of the polarization of consumption, which also appears in cakes, whether they are cost-effective or super-expensive.
(Video coverage: Kim Gyun-jong, video editing: Kim Ho-jin, CG: Kang Gyeong-rim·Park Jeong-kwon)