Chuseok food delivery booms as orders for holiday menus soar

Ordering food through delivery apps has become an everyday routine in Korea, and the trend is rapidly reshaping how people prepare for traditional holidays, as demand for Chuseok dishes soars on delivery platforms. On Thursday, the first day of the Chuseok holiday, Woowa Brothers said delivery orders for "songpyeon," or traditional Korean rice cakes, surged 4.8-fold on Chuseok Day last year compared to the same day of the previous week. Other holiday food staples also saw sharp increases in demand during the same period, according to Woowa Brothers, the operator of Korea’s top delivery app Baedal Minjok (Baemin). Orders for "modumjeon," or assorted Korean pancakes, jumped 270 percent, while "namul," or seasoned vegetable dishes, rose 135 percent. Orders for "galbijjim," or braised beef ribs, and traditional sweets such as "yakgwa" and "hangwa" grew 39 percent and 44 percent, respectively. Rather than spreading out over the holiday period, delivery orders were heavily concentrated on Chuseok Day itself. It is interpreted that consumers want convenience, so they choose ready-to-eat meals