Simple Meal Replacements Evolving: "Customized to My Taste"

[Anchor]

These days, when high prices make people hesitate even to dine out with family on holidays, convenience foods that allow people to enjoy a variety of dishes at a lower cost are gaining popularity.

Reporter Chae Heesun has the details.

[Reporter]

Many restaurant areas see fewer visitors these days.

With a decrease in foot traffic due to the heat wave,

[Restaurant Owner: There are no customers even during peak lunch hours. In terms of the number of tables, we should be serving about 40 tables at lunch, but now, excluding takeout, we get fewer than 25 tables.]

Consumers are cutting back on dining out due to the burden of high prices.

[Oh Jun-seok / College Student: I feel that the rise in living costs is somewhat noticeable, so I end up cooking at home...]

As high inflation drives an increase in so-called staying-at-home consumption, more people are looking for convenience foods they can enjoy at home.

While convenience foods used to mainly consist of instant rice, dumplings, or stew meal kits, they now range from yuringi and steaks to dishes launched directly by famous chefs.

Although the price range for convenience foods has risen due to a broader product lineup and the aftermath of the Middle East conflict, sales continue to grow, driven by the advantage that they remain more attractive than dining out.

Recently, the trend of sharing one's own convenience food recipes has even been spreading.

[Lim Geun-woo / Sinjeong-dong, Yangcheon-gu: The quality of convenience foods has definitely improved a lot compared to the past. By slightly altering the cooking method, you can try out tastier and more diverse options...]

Recipes combining rice, ramen, and convenience foods in various ways are becoming trending topics on social media and other platforms, sometimes even leading to the actual release of new products.

[Jeon Mi-young / CEO, Trend Korea Company: Since domestic dining-out costs are not low, people make wise choices by comparing the price of cooking at home with a little effort versus dining out. As the market enhances its quality competitiveness, consumers are inevitably drawn into the convenience food market.]

The convenience food market, which was once evaluated as having reached maturity, is projected to grow to 7.5 trillion won this year as rising dining-out costs combine with trends and fun.

(Video Editing: Lee Sang-min | VJ: Jung Han-wook)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.