POULTRYINDONESIA, Jakarta – The Indonesian government, through the National Food Agency (Bapanas), held an online coordination meeting (Rakor) on Thursday (April 16) to discuss the establishment of zonal Reference Selling Prices (HAP) for chicken eggs. This initiative is part of ongoing efforts to reduce regional price disparities while maintaining a balance between producer and consumer prices.

The virtual meeting involved a wide range of stakeholders, including ministries and government agencies, regional governments, the Food Task Force of the National Police, as well as associations and layer farmer cooperatives from across Indonesia.

Director of Food Supply and Price Stabilization, Maino Dwi Hartono, revealed that national chicken egg prices remain uneven. At the producer level, the average price stood at IDR 25,871/kg, approximately 2.37% below the HAP of IDR 26,500/kg. Meanwhile, at the consumer level, prices reached IDR 31,209/kg, or 4.03% above the HAP of IDR 30,000/kg.

Price disparities are also evident across regions. In production centers such as East Java, farmgate prices can drop to as low as IDR 24,480/kg. In contrast, in eastern regions like Central Papua, consumer prices can soar to IDR 54,233/kg due to high distribution costs.

This situation reflects an imbalance in the supply chain, where farmers face low prices while consumers in certain regions pay significantly higher prices. Therefore, a zonal pricing approach is considered essential, taking into account differences in logistics costs and Indonesia’s geographical conditions.

“Archipelagic and remote areas incur much higher logistics costs. A single national price is therefore less relevant and needs to be adjusted through zoning,” Maino explained.

Meanwhile, President of the National Layer Farmers Association, Musbar Mesdi, proposed dividing zones, particularly in Java and Sumatra. He suggested an additional margin of around IDR 2,000/kg for high-cost areas such as Greater Jakarta.

“We propose dividing Java and Sumatra into two zones: Jabodetabek and other production areas. For the Jabodetabek zone, an additional margin of around IDR 2,000/kg is needed to cover distribution and operational costs,” Musbar stated.

He also emphasized that chicken eggs are a strategic commodity that significantly contributes to food inflation, requiring well-calibrated policy interventions.

Responding to this, Maino stated that the government has implemented several measures, including the Food Supply and Price Stabilization (SPHP) program through feed corn distribution, strengthened monitoring by the Food Task Force, and production and distribution controls by relevant ministries. However, the main challenge remains inefficient distribution, particularly to non-production centers and eastern Indonesia.

Meanwhile, Deputy for Food Availability and Stabilization at Bapanas, I Gusti Ketut Astawa, emphasized that future policies will be more region-based. The goal is to reduce price disparities, improve affordability for consumers, and maintain farmers’ profit margins.

“Through this coordination meeting, we invite all stakeholders to share their views and aspirations regarding the zonal pricing policy for chicken eggs, so that the formulation is fair for all parties. We hope this policy can become a more effective instrument for controlling food inflation,” he concluded.

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