Koster Admits Balinese Garlic Loses Out to Chinese Imports

Local Balinese garlic is losing out to cheaper imported garlic from China, making the domestic product less attractive to the market and causing a decline in production on the Island of the Gods.

This was revealed by Bali Governor Wayan Koster during a speech at the inauguration of the Bali Regional Board of the Indonesian Export Companies Association (GPEI) for the 2026-2031 term at The Kranjang, Kuta, Badung, on Thursday (6/8/2026).

“Bali is in surplus for everything except garlic. Except garlic. So here in Bali, we have a garlic deficit,” he said.

Koster admitted he had previously questioned the Head of the Agriculture Agency about the cause of declining garlic production in Bali. Initially, he suspected the soil conditions in Bali were unsuitable for growing garlic.

However, the Agriculture Agency head explained that the cause was not land-related. He said local garlic cannot compete with Chinese imports, which are more popular in the market.

“So here, the imported Chinese garlic with the large cloves, that is what sells,” he said.

Koster explained that Chinese garlic has larger cloves compared to Balinese garlic, or suna Bali, which is smaller in size.

Nevertheless, after comparing the two directly, he assessed that the quality of Balinese garlic is actually better. According to him, the local garlic has a stronger aroma and taste.

“Balinese garlic has small cloves, Chinese garlic is large, but if you try it, the Chinese garlic is bland. Balinese garlic is pungent. So it is delicious for cooking,” he revealed.

Despite having a better taste, people still choose imported garlic because it is cheaper.

“It turns out that because imported garlic is cheap, that is what our people buy in the markets. As a result, Balinese garlic does not sell well, and consequently our farmers do not want to plant it,” he explained.

Koster has asked the Agriculture Agency to immediately open up land to increase garlic production in Bali. Once local production is sufficient, he plans to restrict the entry of imported garlic into Bali.

“Later, once they have harvested, we will create a regulation, no imported garlic will be allowed to enter Bali,” he asserted.