South Korea Plans to Fight Kimchi 'Crisis'
2022-10-08
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1Kimchi is a traditional food served in South Korea.
2The main part of the food is a preserved vegetable, often cabbage.
3But this year, Kimchi is more costly than usual because the cabbage crop has been small.
4Some farmers say climate change has made it harder to grow cabbage.
5Temperatures have been high and there has been more rain than usual.
6Businesses that sell kimchi are having trouble making money because there is less cabbage than most years.
7Their costs for cabbage doubled over just three months this year.
8Cabbage prices reached their highest level in 24 years last summer.
9In addition, kimchi is getting more popular around the world so there is more competition.
10For example, food-makers in China are now growing cabbage and making kimchi and selling it to people in South Korea.
11So the South Korean government is making plans to build two large holding places for cabbage.
12The places will be the size of three soccer fields and be able to hold 10,000 tons of cabbage.
13The holding places will cost about $40 million and are expected to be ready in 2025.
14They will be built in the rural areas of Goesan and Haenam.
15The large holding buildings will help small kimchi makers who are not able to buy as much cabbage as they want.
16Ahn Ik-jin runs the kimchi maker Cheongone Organic.
17In most years, he said, the company would buy cabbage in June and hold onto it to use later in the year.
18But this year, they were not able to buy enough cabbage.
19As a result, the company is only producing 10 tons of kimchi each day.
20In past years, it would make 15 tons daily.
21Cheongone Organic has also raised prices by over 60 percent.
22The kimchi now costs about $3.50 per kilogram.
23The higher prices are a problem for the South Korean kimchi companies because the kimchi coming from China is much less costly.
24The Chinese-made kimchi now has 40 percent of the market. It is about one third the cost of local kimchi.
25A study by Korea Rating & Data showed that about 1,000 South Korean kimchi makers went out of business or switched to making other products last year.
26The government hopes the new cabbage holding places can help businesses that make kimchi.
27There is a growing interest in South Korean culture around the world.
28One of the most popular music groups in the world is BTS and a television program - Squid Game - is successful on the Netflix streaming video service.
29There is also interest in eating kimchi.
30As a result, the amount of money from kimchi exports rose over 10 percent in 2021, to a total of $160 million.
31Kimchi is more popular than ever, but there are some concerns at home.
32Many South Korean people like to make their own kimchi and share it with friends and families during a time known as kimjang.
33But, many people are no longer making it at home because the ingredients are so costly.
34Kim Sook-kyung is 72 years old.
35She talked with a reporter while shopping at a food store.
36She said she plans to make her own kimchi some of the time and other times buy it at the store.
37Sales numbers at the food store company Hanaro Mart suggest she is thinking in the same way as many other Koreans.
38Since August, the food store has sold 20 percent more containers of kimchi compared to the same period last year.
39I'm Dan Friedell.
1Kimchi is a traditional food served in South Korea. 2The main part of the food is a preserved vegetable, often cabbage. 3But this year, Kimchi is more costly than usual because the cabbage crop has been small. Some farmers say climate change has made it harder to grow cabbage. Temperatures have been high and there has been more rain than usual. 4Businesses that sell kimchi are having trouble making money because there is less cabbage than most years. Their costs for cabbage doubled over just three months this year. Cabbage prices reached their highest level in 24 years last summer. 5In addition, kimchi is getting more popular around the world so there is more competition. For example, food-makers in China are now growing cabbage and making kimchi and selling it to people in South Korea. 6So the South Korean government is making plans to build two large holding places for cabbage. The places will be the size of three soccer fields and be able to hold 10,000 tons of cabbage. 7The holding places will cost about $40 million and are expected to be ready in 2025. They will be built in the rural areas of Goesan and Haenam. 8The large holding buildings will help small kimchi makers who are not able to buy as much cabbage as they want. Ahn Ik-jin runs the kimchi maker Cheongone Organic. In most years, he said, the company would buy cabbage in June and hold onto it to use later in the year. But this year, they were not able to buy enough cabbage. 9As a result, the company is only producing 10 tons of kimchi each day. In past years, it would make 15 tons daily. Cheongone Organic has also raised prices by over 60 percent. The kimchi now costs about $3.50 per kilogram. 10The higher prices are a problem for the South Korean kimchi companies because the kimchi coming from China is much less costly. The Chinese-made kimchi now has 40 percent of the market. It is about one third the cost of local kimchi. 11A study by Korea Rating & Data showed that about 1,000 South Korean kimchi makers went out of business or switched to making other products last year. 12The government hopes the new cabbage holding places can help businesses that make kimchi. There is a growing interest in South Korean culture around the world. One of the most popular music groups in the world is BTS and a television program - Squid Game - is successful on the Netflix streaming video service. There is also interest in eating kimchi. As a result, the amount of money from kimchi exports rose over 10 percent in 2021, to a total of $160 million. 13Kimchi is more popular than ever, but there are some concerns at home. Many South Korean people like to make their own kimchi and share it with friends and families during a time known as kimjang. But, many people are no longer making it at home because the ingredients are so costly. 14Kim Sook-kyung is 72 years old. She talked with a reporter while shopping at a food store. She said she plans to make her own kimchi some of the time and other times buy it at the store. 15Sales numbers at the food store company Hanaro Mart suggest she is thinking in the same way as many other Koreans. Since August, the food store has sold 20 percent more containers of kimchi compared to the same period last year. 16I'm Dan Friedell. 17Dan Friedell adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on a report by Reuters. 18________________________________________________________________________ 19Words in This Story 20switch -v. to make a change from one thing to another 21streaming -adj. playing continuously as data sent over the internet to computers 22ingredient -n. one of the things that is used to make food 23________________________________________________________________________ 24We want to hear from you. Do you think the large cabbage holding places will help the kimchi businesses in South Korea? 25We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 26Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.