Korean J Community Nutr.  2022 Dec;27(6):480-491. 10.5720/kjcn.2022.27.6.480.

Problems Encountered in Analyzing the Market Size, Purchase, and Consumption of HMR in the Republic of Korea

• Kwon SO
• Choi I
• Joo Y
• Yoon J

• KMID: 2537698
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5720/kjcn.2022.27.6.480

Abstract

Objectives
This study examined the problems encountered when analyzing the market size, purchase, and consumption of HMR (home meal replacements) in the Republic of Korea.
Methods
The macro data relevant to the market size and purchase status of HMR were critically summarized. The micro data retrieved from the 2019 & 2020 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) were analyzed to understand the consumption of HMR.
Results
The Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation and the Ministry of Food and Drug Administration reported the market size of HMR, whereas the Korean Rural Economic Institute and the Rural Development Administration reported the purchase expense and frequencies of HMR. Since the values on the market size and purchase status were calculated or surveyed using different scopes of HMR, there have been reliability issues for the data presented. Additionally, lack of consensus on the use of Korean terms corresponding to HMR was found to be a problem. To examine the consumption of HMR, analysis of the food intake data from KNHANES presented results with very low validity due to the inappropriate survey and coding scheme not reflecting the inclusion of new food types.
Conclusions
Several problematic discrepancies were encountered in the statistics on HMR. The fundamental cause of these problems was the absence of agreement on the scope of HMR and the Korean terms corresponding to it. Considering the increasing importance of HMR in Korean diets, urgent cooperative efforts are required between the government and academia to derive an agreed Korean term and establish the scope of HMR.

Keyword

nutrition surveys; ready-prepared foods; Republic of Korea; eating; statistics