Republic of chicken?
/ Courtesy of BBQ
By Ko Dong-hwan
South Korean restaurants used more than 966 million chickens in the meals they served last year ― a record.
However, the Korea Rural Economic Institute’s seasonal report issued last winter also showed that the average monthly amount of chickens consumed by each household dropped 5.6 percent year-on-year.
The increase in chickens in restaurants and the fall in consumption at home was because restaurants were offering more chickens than demand called for. Well over 30,000 restaurants nationwide, including chains and private shops, are competing fiercely to sell chickens.
Chickens served in restaurants numbered about 147 million in 1990, and the number has increased 7.8 percent on average each year since then. Last year’s total jumped 9.2 percent from the previous year’s 885 million.
KREI estimates more than 989 million chickens will be processed between January and August this year.