Zulhas Calls BGN Head to Request Addition of Eggs to MBG Menu
Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan has requested the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) to utilise chicken eggs in the free nutritious meal menu twice a week. “The supply is abundant, but demand is low. We are asking BGN to use eggs two days a week,” he said in Jakarta on Wednesday, 13 May 2026.
The request was conveyed by Zulkifli via telephone to BGN Head Dadan Hindayana after monitoring food prices at Palmerah Market in West Jakarta.
After visiting several traders, Zulhas—as he is nicknamed—stated that the current price of chicken eggs is Rp 27,000 per kilogram. This is below the reference purchase price (HAP) at the consumer level, which is Rp 30,000 per kilogram.
In his conversation with Dadan, Zulhas relayed the farmers’ request for BGN to absorb eggs since prices are currently falling. “Please help, Sir. So that farmers can keep smiling,” Zulhas said shortly before ending the call.
Zulhas is optimistic that absorption through the MBG project can lift egg prices. The goal of raising egg prices, he said, is to prevent farmers from incurring losses. He noted that the current price of eggs sold by farmers to retail traders is Rp 20,000 per kilogram. Normally, he added, farmers can sell at Rp 23,000 per kilogram.
Furthermore, he stated that protein in the MBG menu is not limited to eggs. Besides eggs, there are catfish, chicken, and beef. However, for now, Zulhas has asked BGN to intervene in egg consumption to stabilise prices.
In a separate encounter, an egg trader at Palmerah Market confirmed Zulhas’s statement on egg prices. He said the current price of eggs has dropped to Rp 27,000 per kilogram from the previous Rp 28,000 per kilogram.
Azam, a seller met by Tempo at Palmerah Market, recounted that the egg price decline has occurred over the past week. He is unsure of the exact cause of the drop in the commodity’s price. This is because prices have also fallen at the farm level. Azam said the upstream price of eggs is around Rp 24,800 per kilogram.
According to him, the decline in chicken egg prices indicates weakening public purchasing power. “If goods are cheap, buyers decrease instead,” said Azam. He noted that on average, consumers buy about half to one kilogram of eggs per day.
Egg prices have indeed been observed to fall since April 2026. Ministry of Trade data records the egg price as of 13 April 2026 at Rp 29,786 per kilogram. The price continued to drop to Rp 28,354 per kilogram a month later.