Soybean prices rise, Bekasi tofu producer trims profits to keep business afloat

Bekasi, Kompas.com - The distinctive aroma of boiled soybeans still wafts from a tofu production house in Gang Mawar VI, Margahayu Village, Bekasi Timur Sub-district, Bekasi City, on Tuesday, 19 May 2026.

In the modest building perched beside the riverbank, Dian Purnama (30) continues to run the family tofu business, which has endured for decades.

Since morning, there has been a bustle of activity as Dian and their family convert hundreds of kilograms of soybeans into thousands of blocks of tofu, destined for various markets in Bekasi.

To balance production, they have chosen to reduce profits. If prices were to rise, they fear they would not be accepted in the market, they said when approached by Kompas.com at the production site.

According to Dian, the rise in soybean prices has been felt for the past two to three months. In fact, the price of the main raw material for tofu production has now risen by almost 10 percent compared with before.

Previously, soybeans cost around IDR 10,000 per kilogram; now they are nearly IDR 11,000 per kilogram, they added.

Although production costs continue to rise, they have chosen not to raise the selling price of tofu. They worry customers would switch to other producers if tofu prices rose.

So it is better to reduce profits; as long as there is a little profit, they said.

The production is marketed to Pasar Baru, Pasar Kaget, and customers who come directly to their home-based production site.

However, amid an increasingly expensive economy, consumer purchasing power has declined. They noted that their regular traders have also begun complaining of dwindling buyers.

Shopkeepers have said buyers are thinning out as everything becomes more expensive. Demand at the markets has also fallen, they said.

Before soybean prices surged, the family’s tofu business turnover could reach around IDR 1 million per day. Now that turnover is said to have fallen by up to 30 percent.

Nevertheless, they remain determined to persevere. For them, the tofu business is not just a business but the main livelihood of a family that has been carried on for generations.