Seoul - Extreme heat, rains and flooding wiped out much of the South Korea’s cabbage crop Kimchi, driving up prices and leaving the key staple in short supply.

Poor harvest left the pickled dish far more expensive to make and increasingly difficult to buy.

Prices for the cabbage used for the most common type of kimchi have more than doubled in the past year and have surged 41% in just the past month to about 3,300 won ($2.32) per kilogram, according to data from the state-run Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. Prices for white radish, used in another popular type of kimchi, have surged even more in the past year, by 146%, to more than 2,800 won.

The increases come at a time when South Koreans are already being squeezed by historically high inflation ahead of kimchi-making season in November, when families typically produce stockpiles of pickled vegetables to eat during the winter months.

Shipments of the artificially produced kimchi to supermarkets have dropped by about half from normal levels, and supplies have “completely disappeared” from online shops, YTN News reported last week.

Major kimchi makers, including Daesang and CheilJedang, have raised their prices by 10-11%, and more increases are expected. Many consumers jokingly refer to the pickled cabbage as “geumchi,” suggesting that it costs as much as gold.

Restaurants have responded by being stingier with kimchi, which is historically included with many meals as a free side dish.

South Korea’s consumer price index jumped 5.7% from a year earlier in August after climbing 6.3%, a 24-year high, in July. Food prices have risen even more, running 8% higher than a year earlier for two straight months.
-RT