Wando Abalone Prices Halved; County Pushes Sales — Abalone Added to Highway Rest Area Ramen
Creatrip Team
a month ago
Wando County, Korea’s largest abalone (jeonbok) producer, is facing a price collapse as farmgate prices fell by half over four years due to rising production and weak demand. Improved farming boosted output to an estimated 30,000 tons this year, creating a 5,000-ton surplus. Large retailers ran deep discounts (e.g., 10 live abalones for 12,800 won) that help consumers but leave farmers receiving below production cost. Authorities plan a mixed response: promote consumption by channeling the excess through big distributors, subsidize promotions, cut supply by removing 50,000 cages (with prior pilot reductions), introduce limits on new cages, and build local processing facilities. Wando is also expanding buyers — selling bulk lots to companies and adding abalone dishes (abalone fishcake udon, abalone ramen, abalone sundubu-jjigae) at 16 highway rest areas with only about a 1,000 won surcharge to boost annual abalone use by an estimated 66 tons. Local leaders stress restructuring distribution and diversifying markets to stabilize the abalone industry.
