Analyst: Poultry Sector Profitability Improves with Free Nutritious Meal Programme

Senior Research Analyst at Mirae Asset Sekuritas, Andreas Kristo Saragih, stated that the profitability of the poultry sector in Indonesia is predicted to improve with the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme acting as a driver for the recovery of chicken demand. Andreas explained that up to May 2026, the cumulative absorption of the MBG budget reached Rp88 trillion, with expectations for more than double that amount by the end of the year. With this figure, Andreas said the poultry sector is predicted to continue improving alongside the expanding coverage of beneficiaries and the increasing number of MBG kitchens. “If in the second semester there is still around Rp80 trillion, as it is now, we feel the poultry sector is still good. In terms of beneficiaries, if we look, even though spending in May decreased, the number of beneficiaries actually increased, these are new beneficiaries. The number of kitchens also increased,” Andreas said during the Mirae Asset Media Day in Jakarta, Monday. Andreas noted that the poultry sector is also getting better because after the MBG programme and the increase in the number of Nutrition Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG) reached 29,000 kitchens. The government is also investing to achieve production welfare for chickens from the regions. It is recorded that 60 percent of chicken supply is still dominated by Java Island. Therefore, the government is investing in Poultry Slaughterhouses (RPHU) and cold storage in Sumatra, Kalimantan, and Papua to ensure that chicken supply is not centralised only on Java Island. This will also encourage Indonesia’s per capita chicken consumption, which rises by 5 percent annually, but is still far below the per capita chicken consumption of other ASEAN countries such as Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, which are above 10-30 percent per capita. Government investment in the poultry sector will have an impact on the equitable distribution of chicken and egg production centres, labour absorption, improvement of farmer welfare, creation of chicken and egg price stability, and contributions to State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN). With a stable chicken supply and the MBG programme, it is hoped that chicken culling can be reduced in 2026 and farmers can buy Day-Old Chicks (DOC) at low prices.