A rising number of Koreans are opting for bagel and bacon in place of rice for breakfast.

Gmarket, one of the leading online retailers that also sells groceries here, said Monday that sales of products related to western-style breakfasts have more than doubled in the period leading up to April 20 this year, compared to the same period last year.

According to the retailer, sales of eggs has grown by 18 times, while sales of bacon and other processed pork products went up by 68 percent and 57 percent respectively.

Relevant cooking utensils such as star and heart-shaped molds that are used to shape fried eggs, bacon grillers and sausage cutters are also popular on the website.

Sales of pancake makers grew by 10 times, while waffle maker sales doubled and toaster sales rose by 18 percent.

Sales of fruits that often serve as breakfast sides also increased. Sales of bananas tripled, sales of berries went up by 56 percent, sales of tomatoes rose by 27 percent and oranges by 22 percent. Fruit jam sales almost tripled as well. 

Fruit blender sales tripled, while sales of coffee brewing sets rose by 50 percent.

A Gmarket spokesperson said that this trend will intensify as the number of one-person households and double-income families continue to grow in Korea.

“To save time in the busy morning hours, more working people are choosing to have Western style breakfast.”

Meanwhile, Statistics Korea said daily average rice consumption per head in 2015 was 172 grams, which is less than two bowls and 3.3 percent down from a year before.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)