Green hot chili peppers go through the roof
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Although the prices of several food products, particularly vegetables and cooking spices, have dropped a bit this week due to the peaceful campaign period, market confidence remains low, with some traders complaining about a loss of customers.
Ibu Parmo, a trader of small green chili peppers at the Kramat Jati wholesale traditional market, said that business was slow after the price jumped to Rp 20,000 (US$2.3) per kilogram (kg) from Rp 7,000 to Rp 10,000 before the election campaign.
"I think the high price really hit the people's purchasing power," she deduced on Wednesday.
Other Kramat Jati wholesalers and middlemen who sell to other traditional markets and smaller traders in Jakarta, said the price hike since the campaign period started on March 11 was due to short supply.
They said there was a reluctance on the part of suppliers in the villages or other regions to transport goods to the capital, fearing a chaotic election campaign period.
The situation had earlier been predicted by the Indonesian Food and Beverages Association chairman Thomas Darmawan who said there would be a disruption of distribution of basic food commodities during the campaign.
Yadi, an onion trader at the Kramat Jati market, said onions had been around Rp 4,500 per kg since Monday, a decrease from Rp 5,300 last week.
He added that the price decrease was also caused by competition with imported onions from Thailand, which have entered the market.
The price of red hot chili peppers has come back down to around Rp 9,000 per kg from Rp 13,000 last week, garlic now costs Rp 3,500, while tomatoes are at Rp 7,000 from Rp 8,000 last week. When there have been no disruptions over the past few years, tomatoes average about Rp 4,000 per kg.
Vegetable seller, Ibu Ayu, of Kebon Kacang in the Bintaro area said that some of the market traders had also been complaining that the recent flooding in Java had caused a slowdown in supplies as well.
She said she might quit selling vegetables until the campaign period was over, or until prices went back down, as her customers were complaining and buying fewer vegetables than before.
Maggie Augusta, a resident of Bintaro, said that she had stopped buying vegetables and cooking spices because prices had soared, especially chili peppers.
"We basically have changed the way we cook our meals. We normally cook fried chicken with chili pepper sauce, but now we make fried chicken with soy sauce," she said.
Another resident, Ani, who runs a soto ayam (chicken soup) food stall, said the high prices have caused her to temporarily close the business.
"The tomatoes and chili peppers we use in cooking the soup cost so much now ... we cannot afford to stay open. We will just have to wait until the election is over and see what happens."