近期，韩国炸鸡的价格一路飙升。据韩国《首尔经济》18日报道，民众买一整只炸鸡价格已需花费3万韩元（约合人民币153元），韩国民众纷纷表示“吃不起”。网络上甚至已出现抵制炸鸡的运动。

 

报道称，韩国炸鸡价格上涨的原因包括疫情之下物流不顺畅、韩国最低工资上涨导致人工成本升高、国际粮食价格和饲料价格暴涨等。

 

一直以来，炸鸡都是韩国的国民美食，而现如今炸鸡价格的上涨也成为了韩国通货膨胀的缩影。

Fried chicken has long been a favorite of consumers in South Korea — and now it also underscores the country's inflationary woes¹, with food prices across the board weighing more on wallets lately.

 

35岁的Youtube用户克拉克（Clark Park），就是受到高物价困扰的韩国民众之一。

 

八月的一天早上，他早早地加入了抢购炸鸡的队伍中。他前往的Homeplus是韩国三大连锁超市之一，该超市大幅度的降价与12%的折扣吸引了许多市民前来购买。

That's why he joined a huge throng² of shoppers clamoring for cheap fried chicken one August morning at Homeplus, a hypermarket chain that had just slashed³ 12 percent off its already-heavily discounted prices.

 

他告诉记者，当时已经有五十多个人在排队，还有人提前很早就来了，等了一个多小时就为了买上一份炸鸡。他还说：“门一开我们就冲到熟食区，人们真的对炸鸡很狂热。”

"There were already over 50 people lined up," Park told the reporter, adding that many arrived early and waited well over an hour. "We all ran together to the deli as soon as it opened. That's when I felt the craze of fried chicken."

 

韩国政府的调查数据显示，八月份炸鸡的平均价格同比上涨了11.4%，上涨幅度甚至超过了韩式泡菜汤（kimchi stew）和烤肉（barbecue），而这三者都是韩国民众餐桌上的常客。

 

近几个月以来，世界各地消费者都共同面临着食品价格飙升的难题。韩国八月份的通胀率为5.7%，在连锁超市里发生的抢购行为正是大众面对通货膨胀的无奈之举。

People around the world have been dealing⁴ with similar struggles in recent months as global food prices soared — and scenes like the chicken run at Homeplus are a reminder⁵ of how households are adjusting to broader inflation, which has hit 5.7 percent in South Korea.

 

和英国的炸鱼薯条（fish and chips）一样，韩式炸鸡是韩国的一个重要文化标志。此前，许多人把炸鸡当作休闲娱乐的必备小食，这是一道大众菜。而现如今，两种食品都在物价飙升的大环境下变得愈发昂贵。

 

野村证券的经济专家朴正宇（Jeong Woo Park）表示，炸鸡产业的相关成本都在飞速上涨，供应商也受到了油价、房租、人力、配送服务和鸡饲料等成本上升的冲击，一些餐馆甚至已经开始使用机器人降低人力成本。

"All costs related to fried chicken are rising very fast," said Jeong Woo Park, the Nomura economist⁶, adding that vendors⁷ are being hit by soaring costs of oil, rent, labor⁸, delivery services and even chicken feed. In response, he added, some restaurants have started using robots to bring labor costs down.

 

炸鸡接连涨价让消费者的不满之声日益高涨。不少韩国网民在网上抱怨称，“虽说是高物价时代，但炸鸡价格都这么贵像话吗？”

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