BGN Urged to Revise Distribution Scheme for Free Nutritious Meals to Prevent Markups
Researcher Agus Sarwono from Transparency International Indonesia criticised the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) for its handling of reports regarding markups on raw materials by owners of free nutritious meal kitchens (MBG) or nutritional service units (SPPG).
According to Agus, the stance of BGN’s Deputy Head, Nanik Sudaryati Deyang, who threatened to suspend the operating licenses of SPPGs, will not effectively prevent markup practices.
“The BGN’s Deputy Head, Nanik, has a completely flawed approach, which could lead to the normalisation of corrupt practices. Corruption cannot be addressed solely through the revocation or suspension of operating licenses,” Agus said when contacted on Thursday, 26 February 2026.
Agus stated that marking up prices above the highest retail price, reducing the quality and quantity of menu items, is one of the corrupt practices in the MBG, especially since the budget comes from state funds. Therefore, Agus believes that the State Audit Board (BPK) should conduct regular audits to monitor the implementation of this priority program of President Prabowo Subianto.
Meanwhile, Agus highlighted that Nanik’s verbal threats to SPPG partners are only seen as an attempt to intimidate without creating a system that reduces corrupt practices in the procurement of raw materials. He believes that this will not have a significant impact on the ground.
“The BGN should immediately revise the MBG distribution scheme, starting with the use of e-procurement methods through a catalogue in all processes, both at the BGN and at the SPPG,” Agus said.
Member of MBG Watch, Galau D. Muhammad, also reinforced Agus Sarwono’s opinion about the importance of creating a system to prevent corrupt practices in the procurement of raw materials for MBG. The procurement system, which is not yet catalogue-based, is considered to increase the potential for budget irregularities through markups.
Galau explained that if SPPGs use an e-procurement system, it will become an official price reference that is updated periodically according to market standards. However, with the discovery of inadequate menus and reports of markups, this is considered evidence that the BGN has not yet established a basis for measuring the suitability of the menus served with the prices in effect.
Therefore, according to Galau, if the BGN consistently talks about irregularities, there needs to be a standardisation of raw material prices with a digital procurement system. “This mechanism has actually been in place for some time, but it has been excluded specifically for MBG,” he said via a voice message on Thursday.
Galau also believes that sanctions in the form of suspension or revocation of operating licenses will not deter the owners of the kitchens. He urged the government to stop the MBG program completely in order to conduct a thorough audit.
Previously, BGN’s Deputy Head, Nanik, admitted that she received reports about markup practices during a coordination meeting between the BGN and 933 managers of MBG kitchens in the cities of Surakarta, Boyolali, Sragen, and Karanganyar in Solo, Central Java, on Tuesday evening, 24 February 2026.
“Many SPPG heads reported that partners often mark up prices above the highest retail price (HET) and force them to accept poor-quality raw materials,” Nanik said in a written statement quoted on Thursday, 26 February 2026.
According to Nanik, SPPG employees are vulnerable to legal problems if the State Audit Board finds that there are markups on food raw materials above the HET in the financial reports. Meanwhile, the kitchen owners, she said, can find loopholes to escape.
She threatened to suspend the operating licenses of kitchens if they are found to be engaging in markups. Nanik conveyed her message to the SPPG partners. “If there are partners who are found to be marking up food prices and only providing one or two suppliers, then I will suspend them,” she said.
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