Rising Plastic Prices Cause Concern for Fried Rice and Grilled Catfish Vendors

Street vendors in the Jatinegara area of East Jakarta are complaining about the rise in plastic prices over the past few weeks. The increase in plastic prices is a consequence of the Middle East conflict in recent weeks. One of them, Raden Arka (29), a fried rice vendor in the area, said the price hike has occurred since the month of Ramadan. “It’s up, usually Rp25,000 now Rp30,000, the one that used to be Rp10,000, but now around Rp12,000. Since Eid al-Fitr, from fasting until now, it hasn’t normalised,” said Arka when met on Wednesday (1/4/2026). “As for me personally, the fried rice already has a listed price. So I don’t know about the future, if it continues like this, it might have to go up,” he added. Each portion of food sold only yields a profit of around Rp500 to Rp1,000. Therefore, he struggles to cover costs when the price of raw materials, including plastic, increases. “As for me personally, it’s hard (to find alternatives besides plastic) because plastic is like a staple item. We’re too dependent on plastic,” Arka stated. Similar complaints were voiced by Parti (57), a grilled catfish vendor. She admitted to being affected by the plastic price increase in recent weeks. “It’s very tough because our sales are slow, not good. So if all goods go up, we get even more troubled,” said Parti. “We can’t raise prices, because the usual buyers are few. So we won’t increase our food prices, we’ll stick to the same,” she added. Previously, the global energy price surge due to the Middle East conflict has begun to spill over into various sectors, including the plastic industry, which is a key part of the consumer goods supply chain. The impact is not only felt globally but is also starting to appear in Indonesia’s domestic market. Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs Zulkifli Hasan said the plastic price spike has been complained about by vendors in the past few days. This increase is said to be related to plastic raw materials derived from fossil energy. “I hear the plastic pellets have risen extraordinarily. Because plastic comes from fuel (petrol),” Zulkifli said when met at Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, on Saturday (28/3/2026). According to him, the plastic price increase can no longer be called an ordinary rise, but a sharp surge. “We’ll certainly discuss it specifically later, why it suddenly rises so high,” he said.