Friends, the magic realism thing, sometimes you don't have to go to latin america to find marks, you just need to open up a korean delivery app。
Looking at the flashy 30,000 won on the screen, the equivalent of a hundred and fifty chinese yuan chicken set, a college student in seoul may experience a heart beating that is more exciting than watching a horror film。
It's not a bag, it's a watch, it's a fried chicken, a fried chicken that used to belong to the people, to football, to beer, to professor " you from the stars " and to the catalyst of chissone love。
Now, it's going from a national snack to a light luxurious one。
It used to be a "fried chicken freedom" and now a "fried chicken prick" with a purse and a soul through it。
How can a fried chicken become the mirror of the korean economy, with endocrine disorders and structural distortions
It's better than the korean drama。
Let's pull the timeline to a non-existent 2025, oh no, some real, heartbreaking afternoon。
The korean federation informed me that the price of fried chicken had risen again, that social media was lamenting, and that the word “fried chicken inflation” was crawling with hot searches like a virus。
It's a very spiritual word, sounds like an economic concept, but translates three words: can't afford it。
In seoul, for example, in the copper fowl zone, one of the school village's branded fried chickens is honey chicken, at a price of 25,000 won; the gold olives of the bbq are also worth 23,000。
Attention, it's just naked chicken price。
Can't you order a delivery fee
2000 to 5,000 won, depending on the mood and road conditions of the delivery boy。
That's how it works, 30,000 won to the bottom, no tops。
What concept
Korea's minimum hourly salary of less than 10,000 won means that a university student works for three hours, sweats and sweats, and finally contributes to a chicken。
This chicken is not even alive。
The official interpretation is always so politically correct and boring。
They will tell you that this is structural inflation, that there is a problem with the global supply chain, that the russian-uu conflict has led to higher food prices, and that the fed’s interest rate hike has led to exchange rate fluctuations。
Doesn't that sound like an extraordinary narrative? Feels like you're eating not chicken, but geopolitics。
But there's a lot going on, and the data of the korean agri-food circulation community is just cracking up。
The cost of a chicken is less than 20 per cent of the total price of fried chicken。
Even for some time, the wholesale price of chicken has fallen to dog, but you still have a strong, even negative, chicken bill。
The merchants have expressed their tears that we do not want to, mainly the price of labour, the cost of rent and the increase in the power and gas, and that these fixed costs are under pressure and we are the victims。
Are you familiar with that? Doesn't it look like every time you go for a haircut, mr. Tony says he's working for you
Essentially, these are smoke bombs. Real monsters, hide in deeper waters。
South korea's fried chicken is no longer the warmth of a street-tailed wife's shop, but a naked oligarchy, a capital resort。
Several large chains of brands, school villages, bbq, bhc, have completed market segmentation, creating a de facto “fried chicken trust”。
When the giants had the right to price, consumer perceptions were no longer important。
They've got 10,000 ways to add bricks and bricks to their money without you knowing it。
The classic trick is "shrinkflation", translated as "shrinkflation."。
Prices remained constant or slightly increased, but the number of chickens was smaller and smaller。
You feel like you haven't spent much money, but you're getting less meat in your mouth。
It's worse than the price increase, because it insults your iq。
And there's a much higher game called "invisible change."。
Previously, the chicken leg of the a-supplier had been used, and now the chicken breast of the b-supplier had been changed quietly。
Taste difference
People who can eat out。
Cost, just save it。
It's not over。
These chains are essentially brand-authorized companies。
Their real profit-making cows don't sell fried chicken, but cut the beryllies of the allies。
The cost of advertising is as high as the cost of advertising, which is compulsory; the cost of licensing is so varied that the geese are too hairy。
To whom do they end up being handed over
That's right, you, the poor man who's hungry in the middle of the night and wants to comfort his soul with a chicken fried。
You think you're just paying for a chicken, actually, you're paying for the giant's ads, the ceo's yacht, the damn, complicated, layered licensing system。
This chicken, carrying too much weight it shouldn't bear。
If oligopoly is a visible black hand, then the invisible shackles come from a much stronger presence — aca。
Korea, like japan next door, has a strong system of agricultural coordination that can shape state policy。
This thing, nominally a mutual aid organization that protects the interests of farmers, is in fact a structural “semi-open” barrier。
It makes korea's food supply system inefficient and costly。
What do you mean
It's cheap chicken, cheap feed from abroad. Want to come in
It's not that easy。
The aca has 10,000 ways to prevent you from coming in or getting in through tariff, non-tariff barriers。
This results in the korean catering industry, which is highly dependent on its own expensive agricultural products。
How can prices be less elastic
This creates a perfect closed ring。
Aaap locks up costs, oligopolys raise prices wildly, and downstream consumers pay with tears。
It's not yet another vampire -- the delivery platform。
Korea's delivery platforms, similar to ours, are “digital landlords”, with high-cost sabotage leases。
An order, a large commission from the platform, and the money, of course, is on the consumers。
The korean government has also tried to resist by creating a public delivery platform called ddangyo, which seeks to reduce business costs。
And
Market share is fourth, better than nothing。
In the face of capital giants, such a small, fresh effort, like a toothpick to pry a mountain, in a moving position, with cruel results。
So, you see, the price of a fried chicken is a layer of oligopoly profits, blood tears from the union, barriers to agriculture, platform commissions, high rents and labour costs。
It is no longer a food, it is a financial product, an overpacked and layered package of assets。
And you, the final crewman。
Of course, the wisdom of the people is infinite。
When normal channels fail to meet demand, the forces of wildness break out。
Lottamart, a large supermarket, suddenly failed to speak of voodoo and launched the rebel chicken fry。
For every 5,000 won, the head is still huge, called "super-fried chicken."。
The news is that the korean people are crazy。
During the event, 100,000 fried chickens were sold out in an instant, and long queues were lined up in front of supermarkets, compared to the spring robbery。
The scene, the ruckus, the firecrackers。
That slaps hard on the face of those chains。
It proves one thing: not people don't like fried chicken, but people can't afford your fried chicken。
This is called a “fried-out-class revolution” in chickens, where capitalists are told what they call “public opinion” by voting on their feet。
The chain of brands can't sit down, prices are down and 34,000 won of cheap fried chickens are released。
While the time limit is limited, the posture must be adequate。
At the policy level, the korean government has also begun to reflect on the need to move from a “developmental state” to a “regulated state”, to level the playing field, to address the structural problems of franchising and to reform the delivery platform。
The slogans were loud, but it would be as difficult to move these mischievous interests as to allow the financiers to give up their inheritance rights。
More interesting is the other option for these fried chicken giants: going out to sea。
The local market is stuck, so we're going overseas to cut herbs。
Bbq marched into china, where the school village landed in jilin。
They shake and become representatives of cultural output。
The magic is that the price of these fried chickens in china is probably only one quarter of what is on the korean mainland。
The same brand, the same formula, another place, the price jumps。
What does that mean
There is already enormous room for flexibility to illustrate their costs and pricing。
It's expensive at home, not cheap, not cheap。
It seems that many brands are traditional。
When korea’s former president yoon seong-hye’s defense minister used “soldiers don’t even buy a fried chicken” in a congressional hearing to justify the absurdity of the news of martial law, the fried chicken went beyond food。
It has become a social symbol of political turmoil, from food on the table to a “fried chicken index” to measure national happiness and economic stress。
A country's economy is good. Don't look at macrodata, don't listen to experts。
Ask the hungry young man in the middle of the night, when he turned on the delivery software, whether he was going to drop it or close it。
The answer is often in that little fried chicken。
It tells you that life is concrete, that pain is real and that the logic of capital is always cold。
