October 2, 2013 — Lotte Mart and E-Mart are doing battle with live lobsters, following their price war over autumn and winter clothes last week. It is the first time the large discount retailers are selling live lobsters at less than 10,000 won ($9.30). Both started to stock up two to three months ago.
Lotte Mart has a comparative advantage in terms of price, retailing 500 grams (17.6 ounces) of U.S. lobster at 9,700 won at 20 stores, including Jamsil and Seoul Station. The price is almost half the market price of Canadian lobsters sold for 21,000 won to 24,000 won.
E-Mart is challenging the competition with live lobsters at all of its stores nationwide for 9,990 won from today through next Wednesday. It has prepared 100,000 lobsters, five times the number at Lotte Mart, through direct air shipments from the Northeast United States.
“Considering the minimum wholesale price of live lobsters of similar quality at more than 12,000 won, ours are about 20 percent cheaper,” said a spokesman for E-Mart.
The competition has been heated between the two retail giants, with E-Mart saying its competitor is retailing only a small amount of the 20,000 lobsters at 20 stores across the country. Lotte Mart said its merchandise directors visited the producer in the United States and it selectively imports excellent products only after testing. Both stores expect the lobsters to be extremely popular given concerns over radioactive contamination of fish from Korean and Japanese waters.
Read the full story at Korea JoongAng Daily