韩国社区果蔬店因高食品通胀快速扩张，传统大型折扣店客流竞争加剧

Corner produce shops are emerging as a major offline grocery channel for South Korean consumers. Their appeal — nearby, cheap and open to buying single items — has drawn shoppers as inflation has piled up since the COVID-19 pandemic. Neighborhood fruit and vegetable stores were long treated as a sideline while large discount chains and supermarket operators expanded, but they are now spreading faster than other offline retail channels.
The number of fruit and vegetable retailers nationwide grew from 21,961 in 2017 to 30,451 in June this year, an increase of 8,490, or 38.7%, according to the National Tax Service on the 23rd. Fruit shops rose from 11,293 to 13,995, while vegetable shops climbed from 10,668 to 16,456. Even compared with the end of June last year, when there were 29,324, the total was up 3.8% in a year. That runs counter to the three major discount chains — E-Mart, Lotte Mart and Homeplus — which shed 88 stores, or 20.8%, over the same period, falling from 423 to 335.
The growth is also steep compared with other everyday retail sectors. Businesses in the 100 everyday sectors classified by the National Tax Service totaled 3,132,998 in June this year, up just 1.2% from a year earlier, while produce shops grew 3.8% over the same period.
Price is the key to their competitiveness. A comparison of a large discount store in Seoul's Eunpyeong district with a produce shop within walking distance, based on similar quantities, found a head of iceberg lettuce priced at 3,990 won and 2,500 won, respectively. Three bunches of enoki mushrooms differed by more than double, at 2,490 won versus 1,000 won, while about 200 grams of lettuce cost 3,990 won and 2,000 won, and a sweet pumpkin was 1,992 won and 1,000 won — effectively half the price.
The ability to pick up only as much as they want is another draw. Kim, a nearby resident, said, "There are times when the supermarket discounts gold kiwis to about 990 won each, but the produce shop is always 1,000 won, and you can buy just one."
The price gap stems from the produce shops' distinctive buying system and low cost structure. The shops receive goods secured through daily auctions at markets such as Garak Market or the Anyang Wholesale Produce Market, delivered through specialized vendors. An industry official explained, "Large discount chains have to run everything through quality-control centers to keep uniform mid-to-upper-grade quality at any store nationwide, but produce shops can take mid- and lower-grade goods in bulk at reasonable prices and sell them, so the purchase cost itself is different." Lower spending on packaging and store management also pulls prices down.
These strengths have stood out more sharply as food prices have surged. According to Statistics Korea, the consumer price index for agricultural, livestock and fishery products rose to 126.01 this year, with 2020 set at 100. It eased somewhat to 124.25 in July but remained 24.3% above the 2020 level. That was a far steeper climb than the 16.6% rise in the overall consumer price index over the same period.
The entrenchment of demand for nearby grocery shopping is also cited as a factor. Produce shops have opened one after another in spots with short foot-traffic routes — near bus stops and subway stations and in apartment-complex shopping arcades — absorbing neighborhood demand. The absence of a minimum floor-space requirement to open, which makes the initial investment lighter than for convenience stores or supermarket chains (SSMs), has also sped their spread. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the number of SSM stores fell from 1,229 in 2018 to 1,195 in the first half of this year. Although they have rebounded over the past three years, they have yet to recover to the level of eight years ago, when the data was first released. The four major convenience store chains also peaked at 54,893 stores in 2023 before slipping to 53,266 last year — a contrast with produce shops, which have grown more than 35% since 2018.
In some areas, however, an adjustment has already begun. Seoul's vegetable shops numbered 1,824 as of June, down 1.7% from a year earlier. The shakeout appeared first where store density is high, read as a sign that supply has begun to outpace demand.
An industry official said, "Large discount chains and SSMs are also stepping up rock-bottom-price events to draw customers. Since capturing low-price demand is the key, competition over the neighborhood grocery market will only intensify."