(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Yoon-gu = The Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT) announced on the 11th that fruit and beef were found to be the most preferred items for the upcoming Chuseok gift sets among consumers.
aT conducted a survey on the 25th to 28th of last month through a professional research company, targeting 3,000 people to investigate their intentions to return home for Chuseok, planned purchases for Chuseok gift sets and harvest gifts, budget, timing, and purchasing locations.
According to the survey, the intention to return home for Chuseok this year was 45.8%, which is 1.3 percentage points lower than last year's Chuseok (47.1%).
The top three items for purchasing gift sets were the same as last year's Chuseok: apples (17.3%), mixed fruit sets (17%), and beef (15.8%).
Mixed fruit sets moved up one rank from last year's third place. The items in the mixed sets include apples, pears, shine muscat, peaches, and grapes.
The average budget for purchasing gift sets was 163,000 won, which is lower than last year's 171,000 won. The largest number of respondents, 31.7%, said they would purchase with a budget of 50,000 to 100,000 won, indicating a high intention to buy cost-effective products with a smaller budget compared to last year.
The top items for purchasing harvest gifts were beef (30.3%), apples (15.1%), vegetables (14.4%), and pork (6.7%). The average budget was 206,000 won, which is higher than last year's Chuseok (202,000 won).
The preferred items were the same as those for last year's Lunar New Year and Chuseok, but the intention to purchase beef was 5 percentage points higher than for Lunar New Year.
For purchasing locations, large-scale supermarkets accounted for about 70% for both gift sets and harvest gifts. The second-place purchasing locations were online-only malls for gift sets and traditional markets for harvest gifts.
The timing for purchasing both gift sets and harvest gifts was most popular one week before the holiday, with 40% of respondents indicating this preference.