Homeplus announced on Monday that it will exclusively sell 45,000 cartons of American white fresh eggs (30-count) at large supermarkets and Homeplus Express locations nationwide starting from the January 31.
According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation’s Korea Agricultural Marketing Information Service (KAMIS), the average retail price for domestic premium eggs (30-count) was 7,229 KRW (about 5.02 USD) as of January 20.
The American white fresh eggs being offered are over 17% cheaper than the average retail price of domestic premium eggs.
To ensure widespread availability, Homeplus has limited purchases to two cartons per customer. The first batch of approximately 36,000 cartons will be available on a first-come, first-served basis starting on January 31.
On January 7, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced plans to pilot the import of American fresh eggs. This move aims to address potential egg supply concerns due to the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI) in South Korea.
Homeplus has proactively secured the import volume from the Ministry and will begin selling them quickly, just two weeks before the Lunar New Year holiday.
Homeplus has a track record of success with imported eggs. In 2021 and 2024, they exclusively sold American eggs, which quickly sold out. Similarly, Spanish eggs sold in 2023 flew off the shelves within just three days of arrival.
Nam Gi-beom, a buyer for Homeplus’s dairy and ingredients team, stated that this year, it is committed to its AI price stabilization project. It’ll continue offering a variety of ingredients at wallet-friendly prices throughout the year, doing the part to ease the cost of living for the customers.