[Anchor]

With dining-out costs becoming a burden, many people choose to cook at home even during holidays. In times like this, convenience foods that save a lot of effort are gaining popularity.

Reporter Chae Heesun has the story.

[Reporter]

These days, quite a few restaurant areas see fewer visitors.

Foot traffic has dropped due to the scorching heat,

[Restaurant Operator: There are no customers even during the peak lunch hour. In terms of table count, we should be taking about 40 tables at lunch, but now, excluding takeout, we get less than around 25 tables.]

Consumers cut back on dining out due to price burdens.

[Oh Jun-seok / College Student: I still feel the inflation quite a bit, so I end up cooking and eating at home...] <br />
As so-called "stay-at-home" consumption increases amid high inflation, more people are looking for convenience foods they can enjoy at home.

While convenience foods used to be mainly instant rice, dumplings, or meal kits like stews, now they include everything from yurinki and steaks to dishes directly launched by famous chefs.

Even though the product categories have expanded and convenience food prices have risen due to the fallout from the Middle East conflict, sales continue to grow by highlighting the advantage that they are still more attractive than dining out.

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

[Im Geun-woo / Sinjeong-dong, Yangcheon-gu: The quality of (convenience foods) has certainly improved a lot compared to before. By cooking them slightly differently, I can try them more deliciously and in various ways...]

Recipes combining rice, ramen, and convenience foods in various ways are becoming hot topics on social media, sometimes even leading to actual product launches.

[Jeon Mi-young / CEO, Trend Korea Company: Since (domestic dining-out costs) are not low either, people make wise choices by comparing the price of cooking at home with a little effort versus dining out. The more competitive the quality becomes, the more consumers have no choice but to enter the (convenience food) market...] <br />
The convenience food market, which was once evaluated as entering a mature phase, is projected to grow to 7.5 trillion won this year as rising dining-out costs are met with trends and fun.

(Video Editing: Lee Sang-min, VJ: Jeong Han-wuk)