Korean consumers aren’t buying milk, leading milk consumption to drop to one of the lowest points in the past thirteen years. Part of the reason is due to the declining fertility rates, as less babies are being born, and children are the leading consumer group. Another reason could be the increase in drink options, from coffee to juice. Netizens however say the main reason is that milk prices in Korea are prohibitively expensive.
Article from SBS:
Koreans Aren’t Drinking Milk, Tears As Farmers May Need to “Slaughter Cows”
Anchor
Recently, there has been a surplus of milk, pushing farmers and milk producers into the straits.
Reporter Lee Tae-woo has more on why milk isn’t selling well even though producers are bending over backwards to increase milk consumption.
Reporter
The biggest reason for the decrease in milk consumption is because the decrease in fertility has diminished the numbers of the largest consumer group –children.
The rise in milk substitutes is also having an impact.
Lee Shin-ja, Housewife: “Well, now there are so many choices when it comes to what you can buy. It’s not like before where there was only milk–now there are many drink options besides milk. For instance, there’s coffee.”
She is even spreading stories about the negative impact of milk on one’s health.
Lee Geun-sung, CEO of Crimson Dairy: “Some researchers are spreading negative and inaccurate stories about milk…
Last year, the volume of milk sales at Daehyung Mart fell by 3.6% compared to the previous year. In particular, sales in the fourth quarter of last year fell by 8.9%.
Of the inventory of remaining milk that has been dehydrated as dry milk, there remains more than 16,800 tons that have not been sold, a record high over the past thirteen years.
Daehyung Mart is selling bundled 2 for 1 milk bottles at one-liter each for a discount, but sales are weak.
One dairy cow eats 30kg of feed and drinks 100 liters of water per day.
The price of feed is a huge burden to farmers as the consumption of milk continues to decline.
Livestock farmers are being forced to take drastic measures like slaughtering their laboriously raised cows.
>Chung Ha-young, dairy farm owner: Here, we feel more strongly the consumer’s decision to turn away from milk, and we won’t be able to survive if the consumption of milk continues to decline.
One alternative is to export milk to China, but the Chinese authorities took issue with the sterilization method, and are blocking our milk from getting through customs, so it’s difficult to find a solution.
Comments from Naver :
wazx****
They’ll die before they decrease prices, right?
asdf****
Even if [the milk] overflows and they have to throw it away, they won’t decrease prices keke
khe7****
So they would never say milk is not selling well because it’s expensive…It’s hard to find another country with milk as expensive as ours.
mwg3****
Take a look at the prices internationally before you talk.
gohy****
Eastern people aren’t able to digest milk unless they have the body for it. Soymilk is better.
dopt****
The biggest reason I don’t drink milk is because it’s expensive.
khy9****
One bottle of milk is 3000 won- is that a small sum? Even in Japan where the hourly wage is 8000 won, you can buy a big pack of milk for 1500 won.
yhca****
The heart of the problem is the price…
ktp2****
In a country that doesn’t produce a single drop of gas, milk is more expensive than gas. Something’s wrong. Lower the price of milk…
park****
But the price of dairy and dairy products continues to go up…
glay****
Will people drink such expensive milk?
mith****
What idiots keke lower the price keke
