By: Suryo Suryanta Harjo

Fluctuations in the prices of live chickens (live birds) and table eggs have once again drawn attention in recent months. After briefly rising and sparking optimism, prices declined again to below the Cost of Production (COP). This situation has placed considerable pressure on many industry players, particularly poultry farmers.

This phenomenon is certainly not new. Similar cycles recur almost every year in a relatively consistent pattern. When prices fall, various causes are immediately put forward, ranging from oversupply, weakening consumer purchasing power, and increased imports of Grand Parent Stock (GPS), to the dominance of large companies, the role of brokers, and government policies considered inappropriate. All of these factors do have varying degrees of influence, yet the discussion often ends with the search for someone to blame.

In reality, however, the poultry industry is far more complex than simply a matter of prices. It is an interconnected system that spans breeding, feed mills, farmers, poultry slaughterhouses, cold chains, distribution, processing industries, and ultimately the products that reach consumers’ dining tables. Every decision made at one point in the chain will affect the others.

Therefore, it is time to shift the questions being asked. The issue is no longer who caused prices to fall, but why these cycles continue to repeat and how a more stable industry can be built. Ultimately, the poultry industry’s greatest challenge is not merely increasing production, but finding a point of balance—between production capacity and market demand, between the efficiency of large companies and the sustainability of smallholder farmers, between producers’ interests and consumers’ purchasing power, and between short-term profits and the long-term resilience of the industry.

In Greek philosophy, Aristotle introduced the concept of the golden mean, or the middle path—a virtue that emerges when one is able to avoid two extremes. This principle also applies to economics. A market with insufficient supply can trigger inflation and burden consumers. Conversely, a market that is continuously flooded with production will push prices down to the point where businesses lose the room to survive. Indonesia’s poultry industry is currently at a point where this balance needs to be rebuilt.

The Market Is Not a Battlefield, but an Ecosystem

The poultry industry has often been perceived as an arena of conflicting interests. Integrators are pitted against independent farmers, farmers blame brokers, large companies are positioned in opposition to MSMEs, while the government often becomes the target when prices fluctuate.

Such a perspective, however, oversimplifies the issue. The poultry industry is better compared to an orchestra. GPS companies, hatcheries, feed mills, farmers, poultry slaughterhouses, distributors, traders, and consumers all play different instruments. The music will only sound harmonious when every player follows the same score. When each player follows their own tempo, what emerges is not harmony, but market noise.

Classical economic thought indeed views the market as an arena of competition. Those who are the most efficient will survive, while those who are unable to compete will be eliminated. Competition remains an important element because it encourages innovation, efficiency, and productivity improvements. However, the development of modern economics shows that industries are built not only on competition, but also on interdependence.

In the poultry industry, no player truly stands alone. Breeding companies need hatcheries, hatcheries need farmers, farmers need feed, while the feed industry depends on the availability of corn and other raw materials. Downstream, poultry slaughterhouses require a sustainable supply of chickens, distributors need consistent volumes, and consumers need quality products at reasonable prices.

When one link in the chain is disrupted, the impact will be felt throughout the entire system. Therefore, the market is not merely a place where sellers and buyers meet, but an ecosystem that brings together various interests in relationships of mutual dependence.

This article is an excerpt from the Opinion section of Poultry Indonesia Magazine’s August 2026 edition. Read the full article in the Poultry Indonesia Magazine August 2026 Edition. For subscriptions or further information, contact: https://wa.me/+6287780120754 or sirkulasipoultry@gmail.com.

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