Kimchi supply slows down due to cabbage shortage in South Korea

Kimchi is a traditional side dish in South Korea and is traditionally made with salted and fermented vegetables such as napa cabbage. There is usually an endless supply of this side dish in the country but it seems that this will be hard to obtain in the coming weeks due to the current shortage of cabbage.

As per The Korea Times, there are also price increases for Napa cabbage which is the main ingredient in making kimchi. The hike for the said vegetable also led to the surge in demand for ready-made kimchi at discount stores across the country.

However, despite the strong demand, the sales have dropped since there are no stocks to sell due to the shortage of ingredients and other raw food supplies in South Korea. Radish is another main ingredient in the popular fermented side dish, but people and makers of Kimchi are also seeing a big drop in the availability of this vegetable, so there is also a shortage in this type of kimchi.

Typically, companies that make kimchi already place big orders for all necessary food ingredients and materials before the summer season arrives. But this year, destructive weather conditions such as heavy rain and heat wave have severely affected local farms since July, so they were not able to produce as much vegetables.

As a result, kimchi makers failed to secure the needed amount of cabbage and radishes for their productions. The shortage of the said vegetables also affects even the biggest kimchi manufacturer in the country.

Daesang is currently the leading kimchi producer in the world and recently, it was revealed to be delivering just half of what it usually distributes to large stores. The company only provides 3.3-kilogram cabbage kimchi products to a major discount store in Yeoungdeungpo, Seoul, instead of the regular 6.6. Kilos. It was predicted that the shortage may continue for a while because the bad weather conditions have refrained farmers from planting new cabbage in August and this month.

"The kimchi-making season comes in November each year, but farmers believe they won't be able to produce enough supply resulting in the unstable price of vegetables," the company official said in a statement. "We normally start negotiations with kimchi makers to fix the price for pre-orders before Chuseok, but we have not even started talking about it as the supply and price of cabbage is still unpredictable.