Ham-less Gimbap and Paid Rice Bowls Amid Rising Food Ingredient Costs

Ham is an essential ingredient that can hardly be left out when thinking of gimbap.

Recently, however, restaurants have started selling gimbap without ham.

As the prices of food ingredients rise, the restaurant industry is seeing the emergence of so-called stealthflation.

This refers to subtly reducing ingredients or services while keeping prices the same.

In fact, when ingredient costs rose, one gimbap restaurant kept its gimbap price at 3,500 won but removed the ham.

There are also restaurants that have removed seaweed from their basic side dishes or started charging for rice bowls that used to be free.

This phenomenon is happening as the prices of food ingredients, including rice, rise and the cost burden on the restaurant industry grows.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.