[Edaily Reporter KYUNG GYEYOUNG ] “Why is it priced this way?” We’ll answer those questions about prices that have crossed your mind at least once as you absentmindedly reached for your wallet. From department stores to convenience stores, we cover everything about everyday prices—whether it’s food or clothing. <Editor’s Note>

Have you ever compared prices at large supermarkets or online retailers to buy a carton of eggs just a little cheaper? Even though egg prices have reportedly fallen at the source, a carton of eggs often feels unnecessarily heavy when you actually put it in your shopping cart.

Since eggs produced at the source must go through a distribution process before reaching consumers, it’s only natural that the farm-gate price and the consumer price cannot be the same. Eggs are fragile, making the transportation process more challenging than for other agricultural and livestock products. Nevertheless, recent consumer complaints regarding egg prices have centered on the fact that while farm-gate prices are falling, consumer prices aren’t dropping as quickly.

According to “Dabom,” the livestock distribution information service operated by the Livestock Products Quality Evaluation Institute, the farmgate price for a 30-pack of XL eggs on the 15th was 5,502 won—a 12% drop from the beginning of the month—while the consumer price fell by only 6% to 6,741 won. In the second week of October (October 5–11), the farmgate price fell by 238 won from the previous week to 5,854 won, while the consumer price rose by 152 won during the same period to 7,063 won, even reaching the 7,000-won range.

Egg prices themselves also remain higher than the average for this time of year. Due to an outbreak of avian influenza (AI), 11.21 million laying hens were culled between November of last year and March of this year. It reportedly takes nearly six months for a chick to grow into a hen capable of laying eggs. It will take several months for the egg supply to return to normal.

The divergence between producer and consumer prices is attributed to a time lag in price transmission. In a report released last June, the Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI) analyzed that fluctuations in wholesale egg prices are passed on to retail prices within one to two months.

The RDA further noted that while egg prices adjust relatively quickly during an uptrend, the pace of adjustment slows during a downtrend. This suggests that producer prices alone cannot fully explain consumer price movements.

The distribution industry also acknowledges that there are limitations to immediately reflecting fluctuations in farm-gate prices in consumer prices. There are many factors to consider comprehensively—not only farm-gate prices but also the depletion of existing inventory, logistics, sorting, and packaging costs, as well as market supply and demand conditions.

There are calls to improve the distribution structure so that farm-gate prices can be reflected in consumer prices more quickly. In a report released ahead of this year’s National Assembly audit, the National Assembly Research Service pointed out that small and micro-distributors account for the majority of the egg distribution chain, and that there is no wholesale market or fair price-setting system in place. The Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI) also recommended that stabilizing egg prices requires a focus on improving structural conditions, such as reducing information asymmetry across all stages of distribution, enhancing transparency in the trading process, and minimizing supply-and-demand volatility.

A single carton of eggs involves a complex web of calculations within the distribution sector. However, if the price-setting process and costs at each stage were disclosed more transparently, consumer doubts surrounding price fluctuations would likely diminish.