Bulog CEO mobilises staff to secure premium rice supply in retail outlets

President Director of Perum Bulog Ahmad Rizal Ramdhani has instructed all staff to oversee the supply of premium rice in modern retail outlets across various regions to ensure availability remains secure, evenly distributed, and easily accessible to the public.

Rizal said the move aims to reassure the public that premium rice produced by Bulog remains present in various sales networks, making it easy to obtain at affordable prices.

“We have already directed this earlier this afternoon, even since yesterday. We have conveyed via Zoom to all of Indonesia to release the premium rice held in warehouses for public needs,” Rizal said during an unannounced inspection at a modern retail outlet in the Radio Dalam area of Jakarta on Wednesday evening (5/8).

Bulog is working to ensure the public can still easily obtain quality premium rice amid plans to withdraw several fortified rice brands from circulation following findings by the Food Task Force that they did not meet quality standards.

He also instructed all staff to conduct simultaneous inspections in various major cities to ensure government premium rice is available to the wider public, not only in modern retail outlets but also in traditional markets.

According to him, Jakarta, Surabaya, Semarang, Bandung, Medan, Riau, Bali, and several other major cities are the focus of monitoring to ensure the distribution of premium rice runs smoothly according to public needs.

“So we have ordered everyone to check in order to convince the national public that government premium rice is present in modern retail outlets and traditional markets,” he said.