September 16, 2009
South Korea consumers willing to pay more for local beef
Consumers in South Korea are willing to pay four times more money for local beef instead of US beef, reflecting a strong preference for domestic product, according to a Korea Rural Economic Institute survey.
On the assumption that 600g of Australian sirloin beef costs KRW7,000, 720 consumers were asked how much they were willing to pay for the equivalent of domestic and US beef.
The survey found that consumers were willing to pay on average KRW21,931 for local beef and only KRW5,600 for US beef.
In the same survey in April, the responses were KRW18,894 for local beef and KRW6,077 for US beef.
This may be due to lingering fears of mad cow disease, and many restaurants have opted to use Korean beef on their menu as they were now legally required to indicate the country of origin of beef being sold.
Before the introduction of the country-of-origin law, only 46 percent of restaurants used Korean beef; it has since surged to 75 percent.
US$1 = KRW1,212.30 (Sept 16)
