ChangedPart or all of the milk fat is replaced with vegetable fats such as palm or soybean oil
Expensive fat replaced · Plant fat substitution · Emulsifier use · Water added
FOOD COST DETECTIVE
How similar-looking foods get cheaper — what was changed — and what that does to taste, texture, nutrition and shelf life.
AFFORDABILITY BOTTLENECK
Why does a dish made from the same ingredients cost this much? Start from the ingredient share; what it does not explain is the next question.
This explains how price gaps arise rather than condemning them. Legal types follow the Korean Food Code, raw-material prices are dated public benchmarks, and taste notes are marked as typical tendencies unless a study is cited. Cheaper is not automatically worse.
ChangedPart or all of the milk fat is replaced with vegetable fats such as palm or soybean oil
Expensive fat replaced · Plant fat substitution · Emulsifier use · Water added
ChangedMilk fat → vegetable fat, part of the milk protein → other protein ingredients and starch, ageing skipped
Expensive fat replaced · Protein replaced · Plant fat substitution · Starch addition
ChangedPart or all of the cocoa butter → palm/palm-kernel type vegetable fats; lower cocoa solids
Expensive fat replaced · Plant fat substitution · Flavoring added · Standardized formulation
ChangedRaw milk → milk powder (skim or whole) and milk fat recombined with water
Powdered ingredient used · Water added · Lower transport cost · Shelf life extended
ChangedRaw milk → water + milk powder (skim or whole); chilled pasteurised → sterilised ambient
Powdered ingredient used · Water added · Lower transport cost · Shelf life extended
ChangedPasteurisation → UHT sterilisation + aseptic packing; chilled → ambient
Shelf life extended · Refrigeration reduced · Lower spoilage risk · Lower transport cost
ChangedMilk fat → vegetable fat (palm, coconut etc.); emulsifiers and stabilisers added
Expensive fat replaced · Plant fat substitution · Emulsifier use · Shelf life extended
ChangedPressed → concentrated then reconstituted (shipping, storage); juice share 95%+ → 10%+
Concentrate used · Water added · Lower transport cost · Shelf life extended
ChangedMilk fat → vegetable fat; lower milk-solids share
Expensive fat replaced · Plant fat substitution · Water added · Emulsifier use