The National Strategic Food Prices Information Center from Bank Indonesia recorded that chili prices in Indonesia have skyrocketed.
On Monday, November 13, 2023, bird’s eye chili prices recorded the highest at Tual Market, Maluku which surpassed Rp200,000 per kilogram. Meanwhile in Jakarta, the price for bird’s eye chili was recorded at Rp97,500 per kilogram. On average the price for this type of chili was Rp78,100 per kilogram today, a 2.56 percent increase compared to the day before.
Other types of chilis also experienced a surge in prices, the highest being large red chilis with a 10.89 percent increase to Rp58,550 per kilogram. Followed by curly red chili with 5.54 percent to Rp65,750 per kilogram. Last, the green chili increased by 2.1 percent to Rp60,900 per kilogram.
Previously, Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan mentioned that the surge in prices of bird’s eye chili only happened occasionally. “It’s okay for chilis to be expensive occasionally,” he said on November 6.
According to Zulkifli Hasan, the occasional increase in chili prices will help farmers avoid bigger losses since lower prices will force the farmers to sell their lands eventually.
On the other hand, the surge in chili prices was protested by customers. Meanwhile, the sellers stated there was nothing they could do to lower the prices since the high prices came from the suppliers.
Source: Tempo.co
