Yogyakarta Faces a Shortage of Young Jackfruit

Gudeg, the iconic dish of Yogyakarta, is made from gori, or young jackfruit. Visitors can easily find it while exploring the city.

But Yogyakarta is now facing a major challenge in developing its gudeg culinary industry: a shortage of young jackfruit, its main raw ingredient.

The issue, raised by a senior figure at the Yogyakarta Palace, was among the most-read stories on detikJogja over the past week.

Gusti Kanjeng Ratu (GKR) Bendara, Penghageng of the Kawedanan Hageng Nitya Budaya at the Yogyakarta Palace, said the region was producing too little young jackfruit. She made the remarks at the Wonderful Indonesia Gastronomy Talk forum in Yogyakarta on Friday, 2 October 2026.

“An issue the regional government is trying to address is sourcing jackfruit for gudeg,” GKR Bendara said at the event.

The shortage is caused by the limited number of jackfruit trees in the region, forcing gudeg producers to rely on supplies from elsewhere.

“Most of the jackfruit comes from outside Yogyakarta, because there are not enough jackfruit trees here,” she said.

Some gudeg producers have even begun experimenting with other ingredients. In Gunungkidul, for example, culinary businesses use banana stems as the main ingredient.

“In Gunungkidul, they no longer use jackfruit but gedebok pisang—banana stems—so they make gudeg from banana stems,” she said.

GKR Bendara also said Yogyakarta has a diverse range of other dishes that tourists should try, although many remain relatively unknown.

She said efforts were continuing to encourage culinary businesses to showcase and introduce this diversity to their customers.

“There are actually so many dishes, including some that are no longer popular, even though they are part of our history. Nasi golong gilig, for instance, is served only at certain events. We are trying to preserve it—at least its story—and reintroduce it to the industry so restaurants can start presenting it,” she added.

“There is also dawet sambal in Kulon Progo, which has become part of the cultural heritage. The original maker is still there, but there has been no passing on of the tradition because not many people have written about it,” she said.