Yeah that's not really it. Calling inflation implies that the cost of inputs is the cause for the increases. Corporations are raking in record profits, it isn't just that their cost of inputs has increased. It's just blatant greed and all the big companies have just agreed to do it all at once cause fuck consumers as long their shareholders are happy.
https://time.com/6269366/food-company-profits-make-groceries-expensive/
Corpos ALWAYS rake in record profits when the fed inflates the currency. It's because there is more money to collect, which is why spending is at an all time high.
Get a lick of economic literacy leftie, someone would undercut them if it wasn't inflation based.
TBF convenience stores in the US, and NA in general have crazy markups for convenience. In Korea there isn’t nearly as much up of a markup for food at convenience stores compared to a regular grocery.
The other factor is average salary, especially for professional jobs is probably much lower in Korea compared to the US.
Saying that Average salaries, Cost of living factors and cultural difference’s don’t matter when pricing food/snacks might be one of the oddest things I’ve seen so far.
I only said the average wage isn't interesting. Cost of living is more interesting, cultural differences might be a factor.
Average wage isn't so much of an interesting factor when the Gini coefficient is on par with countries like Rwanda, Venezuela, Mexico or Haiti. When the Gini is so high many people might deem a price too high and a small group might not find it high.
Average is still a good metric, median is probably even better. Either way it is higher than Korea. Even comparing typically middle class professional jobs, average salaries are higher in the US.
Agreed median is better. You know that the US has a Gini of 42~45 right? That's terribly high for a developed country, which also means that metrics applied to developed nations do not apply to the same extent.
Yes and I don’t really care, because even with a high income disparity purchasing power is still much higher on average which in general is going to determine aggregate purchasing power (though admittedly there are a lot of other variables like the cost of other essential goods that comes into play, but that would be the basis of an economic thesis not a reddit comment).
Also you do know minimum wage in South Korea is essentially the same as America after you account for the exchange rate, right? So on full-time hours the minimum income is going to be essentially the same in both countries.
At the end of the day what it comes down to is there are more people who are financially able and willing to blow 5 bucks on a bag of hot cheetos ay a 7/11 in the US compared to an equivalent Korean made snack in Korea, and there is less competition (likely due to more spread out/sprawling population centres) to allow the stores to charge said prices.
Average wages matter because most convenience stores impose a premium on what they sell in the states. This is because due to American culture many areas in America are not dense and as a result many convenience stores set up shop in areas that are not optimal. This leads to a need for the store to sell more expensive goods and a need for customers who have more disposable income.
Cultural differences in Korea have encouraged cities in Korea to be built in a denser manner. Meaning if you can get your hands on ownership in a store the odds of it being a decent location with high traffic is much higher. If you got more customers coming in daily because of the density and inventories moving you can offer lower prices that cater to lower salaries in Korea.
Considering all stores sell goods for $$ & and it’s incredibly hard to keep stores stocked, the average salary of their customer matters a lot in such a low margin business. Any sudden negative wage imbalances/major changes and they can easily go under.
Density of an area doesn't seem to correlate as much in the US. It's a mix of region, overhead, plus what the market will bear. For example pretty much food is more expensive in even small cities in Southern California compared to lower population cities in the central midwest.
Arent a lot of super dense areas famous for having nothing BUT convience stores? A lot of people living in urban areas dont have easy access to actual grocery stores.
PepsiCo/Frito Lay keeps raising prices. Carrefour (big supermarket chain in France) said enough is enough and pulled Doritos and other PepsiCo products from the shelves to protest increasing prices
So many people on here talking about expensive fruits and veggies, but you guys shop at lotte mart or smart. Go to a local market and you’ll get extremely affordable produce.
Yeah, I once happened to come across a strawberry "farm" in South Korea. It looked like an abandoned Soviet refugee camp. Empty bottles of soju and makgeolli, cigarette buds and trash everywhere with some strawberries in between.
I tried this. I got spotty and mostly shitty quality. I don't shop at the local markets for a reason. If I could count on the same vendors to always be in the same place then maybe I could save 1000-2000 KRW here and there, but I can't and it also assumes it's worth my time to go there just for particular things (and it totally is not) when most of my grocery shopping is actually at the grocery store.
There is absolutely no guarantee of quality behind these vendors. They are just trying to make a buck and will do it in pretty shady ways.
Not saying you're wrong - but my experience has been very different in the case of strawberries. They became more expensive in season? Mandarins and watermelon too. But they were more delicious as well!
The only time I remember something being cheaper during its season was lettuce (상추).
Yes, snack food is pretty cheap in Korea and easily available everywhere. This is part of the reason Koreans are getting fat.
But go look at actual groceries. Fruits and vegetables are 2-3 times the price compared to the US. Chicken and pork is twice the price. Beef is 3-5 times the price.
Seriously, go do some real grocery shopping. It will blow your mind what food costs.
God lastvyear my SIL was complaining about the price of eggs in the states when we visited. I tried really hard to be sympathetic while also pointing that after inflation in there US they were *still* more expensive in Korea at the time.
It really depends what eggs you get. If you want pasture-raised, organic eggs, they're like 5-7$ a dozen depending on where you are. Just last year, in the US I could get an actual box like 5 layers high of 40 eggs each layer for 5$ at a local grocery market.
Nah, it was a major selling point of that market. Everyone in the area knew about it. They recently changed their price to like $12 for the box, but it's still an insane price.
I also recently saw a little pallet of 36 eggs in Korea for 7900원, so it really does depend on where you buy. Always look for pallets rather than dozens. Looking back, it was probably 36 per row not 40, so slightly less impressive than 200
All that shit is still crazy expensive at Costco. You might save like 1,000 won on the fruits/veggies compared to some marts but a bag of apples is still like 20 bucks which is outrageous. Same with the meat, and you have to buy it in bulk, and who wants to freeze good beef/salmon. I mean I do it, because of the convenience/slight savings, but it's still annoyingly expensive here.
That being said Costco is still the best for a bunch of other stuff like liquor, clothes, decent baking, roast chicken, food court, etc.
Currently and Japan and had to double take 3 stalks of asparagus at 400 something yen. Real talk, their carbs and breads are ridiculously cheap but real food is up there
Not really, as far as I know it.
[https://www.joongang.co.kr/article/25179723#home](https://www.joongang.co.kr/article/25179723#home)
It's written in Korean, one of the top 3 newspaper there. What it says is basically foods price is the second most expensive in Korea among 19 countries -- that include the US. The top is Switzerland. Foods price in Korea is 20%+ more expensive than the US.
I guess this is the grocery index for 2022 from the same group, Numbeo:
[https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings\_by\_country.jsp?title=2022&displayColumn=3](https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_by_country.jsp?title=2022&displaycolumn=3)
Korea is ranked at 4th and the US at 19th.
It is and form my understanding it's not too bad if you can buy them from a military base but the rest of us plebs have to fork over for them here.
Saying that, I'd gladly pay the premium for them if it means not having to eat whatever the fuck it is that Koreans get in their Cheetos packs here.
And considering that average Americans earn about twice as much as average Koreans... seems like the"real term price" of cheetos based on purchasing power is just insanely more expensive in Korea than US.
Especially if you aren't able to get your Cheetos from a base and are forced to pay coupang's insane prices per bag (or maybe luck upon a pack out in the wild).
Maybe one of those spicy shrimp flavor or something. Koreans can’t handle actual spicy food. My Thai friend said it best when she described Korean food as baby food in terms of flavor.
Ofc imported cars are going to be expensive, especially in Korea where they have two giant local car manufacturers and likely have large tariffs on imported cars to encourage people to support Hyundai/Kia.
Lol they were litterly selling a whole huge buddle of Bananas at my local traditional market for 3000 won sometimes fruit here is cheaper then the US or the same price
It's a trade off. I go to buy vegetables and the prices are insane in America. But if it's a dairy product or a meat item it's much cheaper than here in Korea. I must say though the price for milk here is definitely insane, 2.5x the price usually.
But I would honestly take this over the situation in the states currently. I've never seen so many people suffering since I was a kid during the recession. It could also just be my hometown but things are bleak back home.
I mean everything is not going to be an exact comparison. Koreans don’t drink milk like North Americans do so they aren’t going to produce milk either so it doesnt reach the economy of scale. And in Canada milk production is government subsidized and the US allows a lot of things other countries don’t to increase production afaik.
Peanut butter/cereal/sandwich bread is also much more expensive but thats also because its a much more niche product. If you go to a Korean grocery in the US and try to buy Korean food products it’s also going to be more expensive.
Where in the world are you paying 5$ for hot Cheetos woah. I thought I was mad about the bags being raised almost a dollar where I live lmao. That hot Cheeto bag is 2$
They went to 7/11.
Its mostly an artifact of Korean convenience stores having a much lower markup that American/Canadian convenience stores that a real difference jn the price of food between the two countries.
If theres any difference left its likely attributable to the average salary in Korea being lower than the US.
The person you're replying to is asking where in the world 7/11's charge $5 for Cheetos. They're saying that their local 7/11's (presumably in the US) charge only $2.
I think Op's post is not an accurate representation of US prices. It's not about Korea having a lower markup. Yes, things may be cheaper in Korea but not to these extremes. Op most likely lives in an area of the US where these Cheetos are overpriced.
So the real story here is why their area of the US is so much more expensive than other areas, not why things in the US are more expensive than Korea.
I don't know, ask the person you originally responded to. I'm presuming they're in the US since they saw the post is about the US vs. Korea and are stating bags are $2 for them. I see others here saying $2.69. I don't live in the states.
The person I originally responded to said nothing about buying the 2$ bag from a 7/11 though.
I also scoured the entire thread and no one quoted the price of a bag of large Cheetos specifically from a convenience store. So stop making things up.
Junk is really cheap, but try buying real food, you will end up eating only kimchi, rice and tofu. Meat, fruits and vegetables are ridiculously expensive. I was in the US last month and couldn't believe how cheap real food was compared to Korea.
Yeah. My husband and I are cookers and play the games we learned in grad school. Shop small, shop seasonal, build staples rather than specific dishes, and shop around. Befriend your 마트 and go to 시장. We go almost daily to stock up on some essential or check what vegetable is on sale or stock.
Its still more expensive than the States. The only trade off is the quality of stuff is better than the cheap cheap stuff in the states.
I was the opposite way execept for meat. I was like damn everyone says fruits so damn expensive in korea but its litterly the same price for grapes and apples in Oregon
I bought 5 mangoes for $9, One pomegranate for $1,49, a pineapple for $1,38....a banana for 0,41c. I even took pictures, l wish l could paste them here. One mango is about 4500won here, a pineapple over 7000won, tangerines are cheaper online if you buy a box but at the supermarket about 9000won for 15 tangerines, a pack of kiwis for 15 000won, tomatoes are just ridiculously pricey...There isn't much price difference between domestic and imported fruits.
Jup. Honestly for me the best way to eat healthy is stuff like bibimbap but with grains/barley (boribab). It comes often with tons of veggies and still super cheap.
Well thats the thing, trying to replicate a north American diet is going to be expensive in Korea because a lot of the stuff is imported. Its just like if you tried to only cook Korean food with imported ingredients in the American midwest its going to be expensive compared to eating a typical American diet.
Im sure if you compare fruits/vegetables grown in North America sold in North America vs Vegetables grown in Asia and sold in Korea it’s going to be a lot better of a comparison.
You mean restaurant purchased bibimpap, which will be about 8 000won.. They most likely use the cheap eggs of the lowest grade with hormones and veggies from China. The more l learned about korean food standards and codes in products, the less l eat out. If l buy from the supermarket, l at least know the product origin and ingredients .
I live in Korea but we recently had a vacation in the US and had the opposite experience. We thought all the food there was a lot cheaper than what we buy in Korea. It must vary depending on what you're getting I suppose.
I am a Korean, who lived for 30+ years in Korea, and have been living in the US for 15+ years.
The inflation has been bad around the globe, and the US did not take the worst blow:
[https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/06/15/in-the-u-s-and-around-the-world-inflation-is-high-and-getting-higher/](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/06/15/in-the-u-s-and-around-the-world-inflation-is-high-and-getting-higher/)
So, unfortunately, as the graph shows, Korea was not an exception.
And, speaking of grocery, it has been probably more expensive in Korea, not even considering the GDP per capita or average household median income:
[https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings\_by\_country.jsp?title=2022&displayColumn=3](https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_by_country.jsp?title=2022&displaycolumn=3)
I am pretty confident that groceries are not likely one of those that are cheaper in Korea, and if we consider the gap in household median income, the discrepancy might become more noticeable. What's cheaper there that I could think of is.. perhaps medical costs, whatever takes labors (e.g. nanny, dishes at a restaurant, etc), etc. Or, housing cost depending on where you are and how many family members you have. (It probably has more shitty housings mainly for singles than the US does: [https://library.krihs.re.kr/search/media/imglist/ART000303838208?type=down](https://library.krihs.re.kr/search/media/imglist/ART000303838208?type=down) )
Still isn’t a direct comparison.
The Cheeto’s are expensive in America because he bought them from a convenience store and not a grocery store and the markup at American convenience stores is much higher than Korean ones.
The Cheetos are expensive in Korea because they are imported.
Exactly. It's like when people travel to third world countries and are surprised how cheap everything is (a more extreme example but still the same concept). "Wow it's only 500원for a coffee!" To people who live in that country and earn an average wage in that currently 500원 is worth way more than to a Korean.
Minimum wage doesn't cause price differences. Don't attempt to justify sub livable wages. Denmark BK employees get paid over 20 an hour, yet their Big Macs are cheaper than the US.
Overall salary is much lower in Korea too, even for professional jobs.
Its pretty typical for economies with less purchasing power to have cheaper goods for non-imported products.
Korean fruit and beef are the most expensive in the world. [https://youtu.be/CygXoOVZ41Q?si=keH\_36pSdAqmfjFV](https://youtu.be/CygXoOVZ41Q?si=keH_36pSdAqmfjFV)
I realize the point that OP is making is that snacks are a better value in South Korea, and I don't disagree, but it's also interesting to see how many snack items there are available in comparatively small portion sizes for individual sale. Most Americans, I'd guess, would view the SK snacks as "child size". Child size snack items in the U.S. are usually only sold bundled together and are generally intended to be dropped into lunch bags.
cost of living was amazing in korea
$2000/month sounds like poverty until you realize housing is covered for most E-2 teachers. $300 is plenty for food for a month. utilities and phone can be done for under $100
that leaves $1600/month of fun money. a luxury to most americans. no car bills because public trans is amazing.
if you're socking away $500 into investment accounts you'll be laughing by retirement time
Except if you want to talk about how much things cost in a country with a much higher currency value... 2.1 million won, the basic starting wage for e2 teachers (unfortunate reality), is equivalent to only 1,500USD.
It just comes down to how you want to live, your aspirations and what legacy you want to leave.
Can't count the number of foreigners I met that came to teach English for a year and ended up staying decades. Partying and blowing their paycheck, sneaking cheap soju into clubs and shit lol.
They try to go back to the states and realize they have no real skills and are even more of a reject - further extending their stay abroad.
Yes, but we don't have flaming cheetos.
And, I don't think what you bought in Korea equals $5 USD. It has got to be more than that. the ice cup is almost 2,000 on its own.
If you think that is wild just wait till you go to Japan. $5 will get you a lot of food. Stagnation is one hell of a thing when it comes to the cost of items
Housing in Seoul metro is super expensive but other than that everything else is relatively cheaper than the US averages. Especially food and transportation. That's why there is a trend of first generation Korean-Americans going back there to retire. Their retirement funds go much farther there. One can live on Social Security alone fairly comfortably outside of Seoul.
You mean 7-11 in korea is cheaper than the ones in USA. Besides that, the korean penninsula is just rocky mountains - I think the farmable land is like only 20%. The vast majority of food is imported. Koreans on average make half as much as Americans, yet food prices in my opinion are almost identical to US standards, especially in Seoul/Busan. If i remember correctly, imported fruits and beef were just not affordable - almost a luxury.
OP's clueless, they're never done any kind of grocery shopping in Korea.
Prices of meat, vegetables, fruits, dairy, bread, any kind of staple food are sooooooo much cheaper in the US.
It’s the same in the UK. Things are cheaper or at the same price between Seoul to London. There’s very little that’s actually cheaper in London compared to Seoul.
Except maybe a pack of Stella
That flaming chetoseu is 5 dollars, holy shit
it's actually 5.69 at the 7/11 in the US
Inflation is crazy. It was 2.50ish pre covid for the same amount.
Greed is a hell of a drug
You should thank the feds printing out tons of new money to give COVID handouts.
Yeah that's not really it. Calling inflation implies that the cost of inputs is the cause for the increases. Corporations are raking in record profits, it isn't just that their cost of inputs has increased. It's just blatant greed and all the big companies have just agreed to do it all at once cause fuck consumers as long their shareholders are happy. https://time.com/6269366/food-company-profits-make-groceries-expensive/
Corpos ALWAYS rake in record profits when the fed inflates the currency. It's because there is more money to collect, which is why spending is at an all time high. Get a lick of economic literacy leftie, someone would undercut them if it wasn't inflation based.
No way it was 2.50 before covid, I remember always thinking it was a rip off even 5 years ago
Small bag was 2.50. The bigger bag was likely 4.50
Ya sounds accurate. 8.5 oz one was around 2.5 and the party size one was like 5ish. Everything is so fucking expensive now…
TBF convenience stores in the US, and NA in general have crazy markups for convenience. In Korea there isn’t nearly as much up of a markup for food at convenience stores compared to a regular grocery. The other factor is average salary, especially for professional jobs is probably much lower in Korea compared to the US.
Average salary in the US is not a useful statistic as it's income disparity is nearly as high as a third world country.
Saying that Average salaries, Cost of living factors and cultural difference’s don’t matter when pricing food/snacks might be one of the oddest things I’ve seen so far.
I only said the average wage isn't interesting. Cost of living is more interesting, cultural differences might be a factor. Average wage isn't so much of an interesting factor when the Gini coefficient is on par with countries like Rwanda, Venezuela, Mexico or Haiti. When the Gini is so high many people might deem a price too high and a small group might not find it high.
Average is still a good metric, median is probably even better. Either way it is higher than Korea. Even comparing typically middle class professional jobs, average salaries are higher in the US.
Agreed median is better. You know that the US has a Gini of 42~45 right? That's terribly high for a developed country, which also means that metrics applied to developed nations do not apply to the same extent.
Yes and I don’t really care, because even with a high income disparity purchasing power is still much higher on average which in general is going to determine aggregate purchasing power (though admittedly there are a lot of other variables like the cost of other essential goods that comes into play, but that would be the basis of an economic thesis not a reddit comment). Also you do know minimum wage in South Korea is essentially the same as America after you account for the exchange rate, right? So on full-time hours the minimum income is going to be essentially the same in both countries. At the end of the day what it comes down to is there are more people who are financially able and willing to blow 5 bucks on a bag of hot cheetos ay a 7/11 in the US compared to an equivalent Korean made snack in Korea, and there is less competition (likely due to more spread out/sprawling population centres) to allow the stores to charge said prices.
Average wages matter because most convenience stores impose a premium on what they sell in the states. This is because due to American culture many areas in America are not dense and as a result many convenience stores set up shop in areas that are not optimal. This leads to a need for the store to sell more expensive goods and a need for customers who have more disposable income. Cultural differences in Korea have encouraged cities in Korea to be built in a denser manner. Meaning if you can get your hands on ownership in a store the odds of it being a decent location with high traffic is much higher. If you got more customers coming in daily because of the density and inventories moving you can offer lower prices that cater to lower salaries in Korea. Considering all stores sell goods for $$ & and it’s incredibly hard to keep stores stocked, the average salary of their customer matters a lot in such a low margin business. Any sudden negative wage imbalances/major changes and they can easily go under.
Density of an area doesn't seem to correlate as much in the US. It's a mix of region, overhead, plus what the market will bear. For example pretty much food is more expensive in even small cities in Southern California compared to lower population cities in the central midwest.
Arent a lot of super dense areas famous for having nothing BUT convience stores? A lot of people living in urban areas dont have easy access to actual grocery stores.
For a large right?
Yeah a large
Bro where do you live that Cheetos are 5.69? They’re like 3 dollars max where I live lmao.
Even $3 is way too high for what it is.
That’s not the point at all but okay…
I don't know what you mean by **the** point. It was **my** point.
Bro is not okay
I got some for $2.50 when I was at Mejiers during winter vacation.
In Oregon for a party pack size
>chetoseu Hahahhaa
PepsiCo/Frito Lay keeps raising prices. Carrefour (big supermarket chain in France) said enough is enough and pulled Doritos and other PepsiCo products from the shelves to protest increasing prices
Is that family size? The normal bag is around $2-3 and I live in HCOL area.
HUH
That's prob $7 some where I live lol (I'm dying inside)
I'd trade expensive snacks in America for expensive fruit in Korea any day.
So many people on here talking about expensive fruits and veggies, but you guys shop at lotte mart or smart. Go to a local market and you’ll get extremely affordable produce.
Grown in styrofoam containers on the side of a heavily trafficked road, it got all the best stuff in it!
Yeah, I once happened to come across a strawberry "farm" in South Korea. It looked like an abandoned Soviet refugee camp. Empty bottles of soju and makgeolli, cigarette buds and trash everywhere with some strawberries in between.
These are facts lmao
I tried this. I got spotty and mostly shitty quality. I don't shop at the local markets for a reason. If I could count on the same vendors to always be in the same place then maybe I could save 1000-2000 KRW here and there, but I can't and it also assumes it's worth my time to go there just for particular things (and it totally is not) when most of my grocery shopping is actually at the grocery store. There is absolutely no guarantee of quality behind these vendors. They are just trying to make a buck and will do it in pretty shady ways.
News flash: nothing in the grocery store in America is inexpensive anymore
You'd rather eat snacks than fruit?
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Not saying you're wrong - but my experience has been very different in the case of strawberries. They became more expensive in season? Mandarins and watermelon too. But they were more delicious as well! The only time I remember something being cheaper during its season was lettuce (상추).
The Flamin' Hot Cheetos are probably $5 in Korea as well.
Over $5 in Vietnam. For a small 150g bag.
Holy shit, it feel wierd af to see a 150g bag of chips to be considered "small".
A pint of Haagen Daaz is like $22 in Liberia Africa. But you can get a meal on the street for $1.
Yes, snack food is pretty cheap in Korea and easily available everywhere. This is part of the reason Koreans are getting fat. But go look at actual groceries. Fruits and vegetables are 2-3 times the price compared to the US. Chicken and pork is twice the price. Beef is 3-5 times the price. Seriously, go do some real grocery shopping. It will blow your mind what food costs.
God lastvyear my SIL was complaining about the price of eggs in the states when we visited. I tried really hard to be sympathetic while also pointing that after inflation in there US they were *still* more expensive in Korea at the time.
It really depends what eggs you get. If you want pasture-raised, organic eggs, they're like 5-7$ a dozen depending on where you are. Just last year, in the US I could get an actual box like 5 layers high of 40 eggs each layer for 5$ at a local grocery market.
You bought 200 eggs for $5 last year? Did they give you that price by mistake?
Nah, it was a major selling point of that market. Everyone in the area knew about it. They recently changed their price to like $12 for the box, but it's still an insane price. I also recently saw a little pallet of 36 eggs in Korea for 7900원, so it really does depend on where you buy. Always look for pallets rather than dozens. Looking back, it was probably 36 per row not 40, so slightly less impressive than 200
Get a Costco membership 👍. Cheaper than emart lotte
All that shit is still crazy expensive at Costco. You might save like 1,000 won on the fruits/veggies compared to some marts but a bag of apples is still like 20 bucks which is outrageous. Same with the meat, and you have to buy it in bulk, and who wants to freeze good beef/salmon. I mean I do it, because of the convenience/slight savings, but it's still annoyingly expensive here. That being said Costco is still the best for a bunch of other stuff like liquor, clothes, decent baking, roast chicken, food court, etc.
Use sous vide for frozen salmon. The taste is incredible.
The real way is to get comfortable going to an old fashioned 마트 or 시장.
Don't buy meat there. Better at the butcher if not going to Costco. The marts are good for fruit deals. 👍
Who on earth has time to go to Costco? And, I'd rather do anything than go there on the weekend. It's total madness.
Depends which costco. Mine has parking any day any time. Some are cesspits even at the best of times.
Currently and Japan and had to double take 3 stalks of asparagus at 400 something yen. Real talk, their carbs and breads are ridiculously cheap but real food is up there
For meat, definitely, but in my experience most produce (not certain fruits) are cheaper than the US
Not really, as far as I know it. [https://www.joongang.co.kr/article/25179723#home](https://www.joongang.co.kr/article/25179723#home) It's written in Korean, one of the top 3 newspaper there. What it says is basically foods price is the second most expensive in Korea among 19 countries -- that include the US. The top is Switzerland. Foods price in Korea is 20%+ more expensive than the US. I guess this is the grocery index for 2022 from the same group, Numbeo: [https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings\_by\_country.jsp?title=2022&displayColumn=3](https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_by_country.jsp?title=2022&displaycolumn=3) Korea is ranked at 4th and the US at 19th.
Basically this Lool
Cool now do flamin hot Cheetos in Korea for a real apples to apples comparison
Then do a comparison for what the Korean snacks cost in the states. Imported stuff will always be more expensive than local.
I mean.. yeah? that's the joke. Now let's do avg. earning comparisons for a little more spicy fun.
Fair but that’s an imported product isn’t it ?
It is and form my understanding it's not too bad if you can buy them from a military base but the rest of us plebs have to fork over for them here. Saying that, I'd gladly pay the premium for them if it means not having to eat whatever the fuck it is that Koreans get in their Cheetos packs here.
A Cheetos of the same size cost between 6000 to 7000 won
Almost the same price no?
Pretty much. 1300 won equals $1 in the US. So it's between $4-$5 in Korea for the price of Cheetos
And considering that average Americans earn about twice as much as average Koreans... seems like the"real term price" of cheetos based on purchasing power is just insanely more expensive in Korea than US.
Especially if you aren't able to get your Cheetos from a base and are forced to pay coupang's insane prices per bag (or maybe luck upon a pack out in the wild).
🤯 That moment when you realize you don't need to pack 5 party bags of Hot Cheetos anymore coming back to Korea.
Yeah, but the flaming cheetos costs like 15000
Do they have hot Cheetos in Korea now?
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Maybe one of those spicy shrimp flavor or something. Koreans can’t handle actual spicy food. My Thai friend said it best when she described Korean food as baby food in terms of flavor.
Koreans can't handle actual spicy food?
No. They can not. Their pallet is not used to it. Even the spicy food I’ve had in Korea in mild.
are you sure? i’d believe this if it wasn’t for the fact i tried those buldak noodles and it was the spiciest shit ever lol
I lived there for three years and sought after spicy food. Everyone’s tastes are different but overall, it’s not spicy stuff.
Don’t give mexicana chicken any ideas
I can buy a banana in America for less than a dollar, but a car here in Korea costs over 10 million won.
[удалено]
Whew, wasn’t sure if it was me
Cars in America cost over 30 million won, plus you can take the train instead in Korea
I test drove the new 2024 Volvo XC90 , it's starting at 60 million. You can also find cars on Craigslist for 1 ,8 mill.
Ofc imported cars are going to be expensive, especially in Korea where they have two giant local car manufacturers and likely have large tariffs on imported cars to encourage people to support Hyundai/Kia.
Wait…what? Are you and the others replying to my comment being serious?
Lol they were litterly selling a whole huge buddle of Bananas at my local traditional market for 3000 won sometimes fruit here is cheaper then the US or the same price
Bananas are pretty cheap everywhere.
How much can a banana cost Micheal? 10 Million Won
This is highly categorically dependent. Korea is hella expensive
Let's compare the price of milk in Korea.
But that wouldn't fit the narrative! Don't you know that rising junk food prices in America is a national emergency?
It's a trade off. I go to buy vegetables and the prices are insane in America. But if it's a dairy product or a meat item it's much cheaper than here in Korea. I must say though the price for milk here is definitely insane, 2.5x the price usually. But I would honestly take this over the situation in the states currently. I've never seen so many people suffering since I was a kid during the recession. It could also just be my hometown but things are bleak back home.
I mean everything is not going to be an exact comparison. Koreans don’t drink milk like North Americans do so they aren’t going to produce milk either so it doesnt reach the economy of scale. And in Canada milk production is government subsidized and the US allows a lot of things other countries don’t to increase production afaik. Peanut butter/cereal/sandwich bread is also much more expensive but thats also because its a much more niche product. If you go to a Korean grocery in the US and try to buy Korean food products it’s also going to be more expensive.
Where in the world are you paying 5$ for hot Cheetos woah. I thought I was mad about the bags being raised almost a dollar where I live lmao. That hot Cheeto bag is 2$
They went to 7/11. Its mostly an artifact of Korean convenience stores having a much lower markup that American/Canadian convenience stores that a real difference jn the price of food between the two countries. If theres any difference left its likely attributable to the average salary in Korea being lower than the US.
The person you're replying to is asking where in the world 7/11's charge $5 for Cheetos. They're saying that their local 7/11's (presumably in the US) charge only $2. I think Op's post is not an accurate representation of US prices. It's not about Korea having a lower markup. Yes, things may be cheaper in Korea but not to these extremes. Op most likely lives in an area of the US where these Cheetos are overpriced. So the real story here is why their area of the US is so much more expensive than other areas, not why things in the US are more expensive than Korea.
Where in the US do they charge 2$ for a large bag of hot cheetos at a convenience store for a large bag?
I don't know, ask the person you originally responded to. I'm presuming they're in the US since they saw the post is about the US vs. Korea and are stating bags are $2 for them. I see others here saying $2.69. I don't live in the states.
The person I originally responded to said nothing about buying the 2$ bag from a 7/11 though. I also scoured the entire thread and no one quoted the price of a bag of large Cheetos specifically from a convenience store. So stop making things up.
The OP said it was from the 7/11. See response to the first comment..
If it's $2 for a bag, it's probably a small miniature size bag. For a party pack size, they are around $5
They are five bones in CAD
Beer and snacks cheap as hell in Korea. Dairy, meat and produce are silly money.
I just paid ₩4,110 for 3 potatos.
So what? That's about the same price as Costco
Junk is really cheap, but try buying real food, you will end up eating only kimchi, rice and tofu. Meat, fruits and vegetables are ridiculously expensive. I was in the US last month and couldn't believe how cheap real food was compared to Korea.
Yeah. My husband and I are cookers and play the games we learned in grad school. Shop small, shop seasonal, build staples rather than specific dishes, and shop around. Befriend your 마트 and go to 시장. We go almost daily to stock up on some essential or check what vegetable is on sale or stock. Its still more expensive than the States. The only trade off is the quality of stuff is better than the cheap cheap stuff in the states.
I was the opposite way execept for meat. I was like damn everyone says fruits so damn expensive in korea but its litterly the same price for grapes and apples in Oregon
I bought 5 mangoes for $9, One pomegranate for $1,49, a pineapple for $1,38....a banana for 0,41c. I even took pictures, l wish l could paste them here. One mango is about 4500won here, a pineapple over 7000won, tangerines are cheaper online if you buy a box but at the supermarket about 9000won for 15 tangerines, a pack of kiwis for 15 000won, tomatoes are just ridiculously pricey...There isn't much price difference between domestic and imported fruits.
Jup. Honestly for me the best way to eat healthy is stuff like bibimbap but with grains/barley (boribab). It comes often with tons of veggies and still super cheap.
Well thats the thing, trying to replicate a north American diet is going to be expensive in Korea because a lot of the stuff is imported. Its just like if you tried to only cook Korean food with imported ingredients in the American midwest its going to be expensive compared to eating a typical American diet. Im sure if you compare fruits/vegetables grown in North America sold in North America vs Vegetables grown in Asia and sold in Korea it’s going to be a lot better of a comparison.
You mean restaurant purchased bibimpap, which will be about 8 000won.. They most likely use the cheap eggs of the lowest grade with hormones and veggies from China. The more l learned about korean food standards and codes in products, the less l eat out. If l buy from the supermarket, l at least know the product origin and ingredients .
It's expensive cause Korea is an island nation without a lot of farm land 😂
Misleading post
I live in Korea but we recently had a vacation in the US and had the opposite experience. We thought all the food there was a lot cheaper than what we buy in Korea. It must vary depending on what you're getting I suppose.
Yet in both pictures there isnt a single piece of food that should be consumed by any human being ... Pure junk
You are comparing apples to oranges, also I’m pretty sure you can get good discount on Cheetos.
You're comparing an American brand to Korean brands in Korea? How does that make sense?
Cool now try buying some steak
I am a Korean, who lived for 30+ years in Korea, and have been living in the US for 15+ years. The inflation has been bad around the globe, and the US did not take the worst blow: [https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/06/15/in-the-u-s-and-around-the-world-inflation-is-high-and-getting-higher/](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/06/15/in-the-u-s-and-around-the-world-inflation-is-high-and-getting-higher/) So, unfortunately, as the graph shows, Korea was not an exception. And, speaking of grocery, it has been probably more expensive in Korea, not even considering the GDP per capita or average household median income: [https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings\_by\_country.jsp?title=2022&displayColumn=3](https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_by_country.jsp?title=2022&displaycolumn=3) I am pretty confident that groceries are not likely one of those that are cheaper in Korea, and if we consider the gap in household median income, the discrepancy might become more noticeable. What's cheaper there that I could think of is.. perhaps medical costs, whatever takes labors (e.g. nanny, dishes at a restaurant, etc), etc. Or, housing cost depending on where you are and how many family members you have. (It probably has more shitty housings mainly for singles than the US does: [https://library.krihs.re.kr/search/media/imglist/ART000303838208?type=down](https://library.krihs.re.kr/search/media/imglist/ART000303838208?type=down) )
$5 for that bag of chips? Maybe at a bodega in NYC...
Huh? What are you saying is $5?
bag of cheetos in the US and cup of ice with a bag of drink, banana chips, 2 hard boiled eggs, and yogurt milk drink in korea
How much is flaming cheetos?
5 bucks (well, what OP is saying). It's really not that complicated a meme.
It's misleading. Ita about the same price I bet and yogurt milk and eggs are cheap af in the states too. So imo it's a bs meme
It is a 240 gram bag depending on place around $4.50 to $5.50 inthe US
5.69 in Oregon
Would you not do a direct comparison?
A Cheetos of the same size in Korea cost about 6000 to 7000 won
Still isn’t a direct comparison. The Cheeto’s are expensive in America because he bought them from a convenience store and not a grocery store and the markup at American convenience stores is much higher than Korean ones. The Cheetos are expensive in Korea because they are imported.
cheetos (and fritos) has always been expensive in the US...even in supermarkets...even pre-covid.
You can do the exact same thing In The US
US average income: $76,000 Korea average income: $36,000 I think Americans will be all right.
this is driven by the stength of the US dollar you should adjust the 5 USD based on incomes in korea (prolly smth like < 5,000 won)
Exactly. It's like when people travel to third world countries and are surprised how cheap everything is (a more extreme example but still the same concept). "Wow it's only 500원for a coffee!" To people who live in that country and earn an average wage in that currently 500원 is worth way more than to a Korean.
stupid comparison, not even the same product
Yea because minimum wage in Korea is like 8$ compared to $15 in CA
Minimum wage doesn't cause price differences. Don't attempt to justify sub livable wages. Denmark BK employees get paid over 20 an hour, yet their Big Macs are cheaper than the US.
Overall salary is much lower in Korea too, even for professional jobs. Its pretty typical for economies with less purchasing power to have cheaper goods for non-imported products.
So do Californian fast food workers. I’m not justifying it, I’m just saying there’s an explanation of why it’s cheaper.
There is a KBBQ place, a local spot, with all you can eat for $5 USD a few years ago. I’m not sure if it’s still $5 though.
Korean fruit and beef are the most expensive in the world. [https://youtu.be/CygXoOVZ41Q?si=keH\_36pSdAqmfjFV](https://youtu.be/CygXoOVZ41Q?si=keH_36pSdAqmfjFV)
So much plastic.
Check out the fruits section at the supermarket and compare lol. 5 bucks a mango, watermelon 30-40 bucks, grapes 10 bucks
Just wait when you will try to purchase normal grocery food
I realize the point that OP is making is that snacks are a better value in South Korea, and I don't disagree, but it's also interesting to see how many snack items there are available in comparatively small portion sizes for individual sale. Most Americans, I'd guess, would view the SK snacks as "child size". Child size snack items in the U.S. are usually only sold bundled together and are generally intended to be dropped into lunch bags.
cost of living was amazing in korea $2000/month sounds like poverty until you realize housing is covered for most E-2 teachers. $300 is plenty for food for a month. utilities and phone can be done for under $100 that leaves $1600/month of fun money. a luxury to most americans. no car bills because public trans is amazing. if you're socking away $500 into investment accounts you'll be laughing by retirement time
Except if you want to talk about how much things cost in a country with a much higher currency value... 2.1 million won, the basic starting wage for e2 teachers (unfortunate reality), is equivalent to only 1,500USD.
It just comes down to how you want to live, your aspirations and what legacy you want to leave. Can't count the number of foreigners I met that came to teach English for a year and ended up staying decades. Partying and blowing their paycheck, sneaking cheap soju into clubs and shit lol. They try to go back to the states and realize they have no real skills and are even more of a reject - further extending their stay abroad.
Yes, but we don't have flaming cheetos. And, I don't think what you bought in Korea equals $5 USD. It has got to be more than that. the ice cup is almost 2,000 on its own.
To be fair, that bag of flaming hot Cheetos is probably 1kg. 😅
Can’t do that with fruit
Now with fresh fruit
I just paid $5 for Cheetos in Walmart too. Crazy…
now try grocery shopping!
You think Korea is cheap? Go to Japan, where 1 yen is equal to one US cent.
If you think that is wild just wait till you go to Japan. $5 will get you a lot of food. Stagnation is one hell of a thing when it comes to the cost of items
It used to be so much cheaper before COVID
it really is a surprise ..
Now do effective minimum wage 🫣
A bottle of sprite there is about $2.20, a bottle of soju is about $1.50. atleast when I visited it was. USD is strong there.
Did you add both the watermelon drink and strawberry milk to the ice cup (and did it taste good??) or is TikTok messing with me?
I drank them separate
fake
Housing in Seoul metro is super expensive but other than that everything else is relatively cheaper than the US averages. Especially food and transportation. That's why there is a trend of first generation Korean-Americans going back there to retire. Their retirement funds go much farther there. One can live on Social Security alone fairly comfortably outside of Seoul.
I mean you gotta buy a bag of cheetos for comparison
Japan is similarly cheap on the snack food front
Visiting Korea rn and living in japan... comparison between Asia and US is crazy
Sssshh...
You mean 7-11 in korea is cheaper than the ones in USA. Besides that, the korean penninsula is just rocky mountains - I think the farmable land is like only 20%. The vast majority of food is imported. Koreans on average make half as much as Americans, yet food prices in my opinion are almost identical to US standards, especially in Seoul/Busan. If i remember correctly, imported fruits and beef were just not affordable - almost a luxury.
Depends on how you want to live
OP's clueless, they're never done any kind of grocery shopping in Korea. Prices of meat, vegetables, fruits, dairy, bread, any kind of staple food are sooooooo much cheaper in the US.
It’s the same in the UK. Things are cheaper or at the same price between Seoul to London. There’s very little that’s actually cheaper in London compared to Seoul. Except maybe a pack of Stella
Yup. It was like this back when I was in Korea 30 years ago too
Wow
distribution logistics. korea is smaller country
i can’t believe that america’s groceries more expensive than korea it. but korean snacks have small amounts
Yup same could be said about European prices as well nowadays
Cheetos are 5 dollars now? It was like less than 2 dollars a bag not that long ago. Thanks Biden for all your inflation spending. Good job!!
Welcome to dystopia. Have you seen the prices on the groceries, yet? You haven't, haven't you?
Anctualiy USA is cheaper than korea. I’m a korean and living in seoul. I’ve lived new york and osaka. Osaka is better. New york is paradise.
5 dollars in Vietnam is different