The price of one of most used spice in Indonesia, chilli, has skyrocketed.
Prices have jumped by 21.8 per cent, from an average of price of Rp 56,627 per kilogramme in December, up to Rp68,794 per kg as of last month.
The increased price in chilli has been noticed by a spicy food lover, Mahatma Narendra, who received a smaller portion of sambal in his favourite restaurant. “Usually they are very generous with the sambal but many places have started to cut back,” he said.
From a seller’s point of view, Rusmini, owner of an ayam geprek – spicy, battered fried chicken – restaurant in Palmerah is beginning to feel the heat of the rising price of chilli. She is cutting back her expenses by purchasing only 1kg rather than her usual order of 1.5kg.
Padangnese food outlets, famous for their spicy food, have har to deal with the consequences by raising their budget on stocking vegetables by Rp100,000. Meanwhile, a vegetable vendor called Suradji, 58, supplies 5kg fewer chillis per month, leading to a decline in his revenue.
Indonesian Chili Agribusiness Association (AACI) chairman, Abdul Hamid, stated that due to high rainfall in January, prices for chilli had risen as supply has decreased. Banyuwangi, as the centre of chilli production, also have been experiencing crop failures since November through to January, falling to 5 tonnes per hectare as compared to the usual 10 tonnes per hectare, said Vice-chairman of AACI in East Java, Nanang Triatmoko. As a result, chillis are short in supply in Jakarta.
Source: The Jakarta Post
Image: Gabrielle Cepella on Unsplash
