The decline of 'jipbap': Dining out wins, even in a downturn
by Korea JoongAng Daily
Left: A table of Korean dishes. Right: Delivery food from a restaurant and a cellphone screen showing a food delivery app page [GETTY IMAGES]
[Behind the Numbers]
A 32-year-old banker who wants to go by her family name, Ha, dines out or orders delivery food at least four times a week. Even for her two kids, she opts for ready-made meals, pairing them with simple side dishes prepared using affordable seasonal ingredients.
“As a working mom, I can’t imagine myself cooking for the whole family,” Ha said. “I save expenses on apparel and choose to dine out or order delivery food within the tight weekly budget of 40,000 won [$29].”
Ha is part of a growing trend in Korea of moving away from home-cooked meals, once considered the default choice for families trying to save money during tough economic times. But that notion is increasingly being challenged, as more households opt to dine out and order in — even amid ongoing economic struggles — redefining the meaning of Korea’s jipbap (home-cooked meals).
This pattern, coupled with the rising number of dual-income and single-person households seeking convenience, is leading to weaker demand for groceries and increased spending on dining out.
From young to old
The evolving preference is not merely a shift in dining culture; it has been factored into headline numbers for grocery demand across all age groups.
People in their 30s and under cut their budget on groceries and non-alcoholic beverages by 3.9 percent in 2024 compared to 2014, while increasing spending on restaurants and hotels by 3.1 percent, according to a report by the Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry, citing Statistics Korea data.
The trend was also evident among older generations.
People in their 60s reduced their grocery and non-alcoholic beverage consumption by 4 percent while increasing spending on restaurants and hotels by 1 percent in the same period.
“As a two-person household, most of the ingredients we buy end up going to waste, so we choose to dine out most of the time,” said a 62-year-old woman surnamed Ko, who lives with her husband. “I cook primarily on special occasions, like when my children visit, because to me, jipbap no longer represents practicality, but just symbolizes sincerity and devotion."
This shift in mindset has been particularly evident over the past several years.
Annual on-year spending on groceries — including on staples such as grains, meat, fruits and vegetables — and non-alcoholic beverages declined by 0.8 percent in 2021, adjusted for inflation, before plunging by 6.9 percent the following year, according to Statistics Korea data. The downward trend continued, falling 3.4 percent in 2023 and 0.2 percent in 2024.
Expenditure on restaurants and hotels, on the other hand, rose 3 percent in 2021 and a whopping 9.2 percent in the following year, as the effects of Covid-19 subsided. The figure continued to grow, though mildly, at 1.5 percent in 2023 and 2 percent in 2024.
Such spending trends run counter to the usual pattern, where expenditures on restaurants and hotels typically fall more sharply than those on food and non-alcoholic beverages during economic downturns.
During the 2008 financial crisis, on-year spending on groceries and non-alcoholic beverages rose 0.4 percent in the year, while that on restaurants and hotels dropped 1.7 percent in the same period among non-farm households. In the beginning of the eurozone debt crisis in 2009, spending on groceries and non-alcoholic beverages fell 6 percent while restaurant and hotel consumption plunged 6.9 percent.
Cooking is out, convenience is in
A lack of time and money, driven by the rapid growth of asset prices, are also driving people away from jipbap.
“The change in spending habits reflects modern people’s lack of time,” said Suh Yong-gu, a business professor at Sookmyung Women's University.
“Longer commute times, driven by soaring housing prices that have pushed the working population out of Seoul, are leaving families with less time to prepare meals at home,” Suh said.
The average price per pyeong (3.3 square meters) for an apartment — the most preferred type of housing in Korea — soared 148.5 percent over the past decade through May, according to joint research by real estate information provider APTGIN and Prof. Kang Jeong-gyu, who teaches real estate at the Graduate School of Dong-A University.
“Such a rapid rise in asset prices has made the younger generation give up on saving up for a housing purchase and instead go for hedonic consumption like dining out,” said Hur Chung, an associate professor at Hankyong National University's School of Law & Business Administration.
Employees eat lunch at the company cafeteria in the National Assembly Museum in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Sept. 28, 2022. [JOONGANG ILBO]
The rise in dual-income and single-person households, with more women in the workforce and a relative fall in marriages, is also fueling the trend.
“In the past, dining-out expenses like meal costs were more of a matter of choice, but nowadays, there are meal expenses that have become essential,” said Lee Ju-hee, spokesperson for the Price Statistics Division at Statistics Korea, referring to the rise in the number of working women.
The proportion of families with double income has risen to 48.2 percent in 2023 compared to 44.2 percent in 2015, according to the organization’s data, while that of single-person households has jumped to 35.5 percent from 27.2 percent in the same period.
“Many workers eat meals provided through corporate catering services, which are included in the restaurant and hotel category,” Lee added, a trend that has grown evident in recent years amid steep inflation.
“As the trend grows, jipbap will turn into something that people will feel nostalgic for,” said Hur. “Food companies and restaurants are increasingly expected to offer products and services that replicate home-cooked meals."
Reference Written by JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr] Provided by Korea JoongAng Daily
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Left: A table of Korean dishes. Right: Delivery food from a restaurant and a cellphone screen showing a food delivery app page [GETTY IMAGES] 
