A Total Of 20 Tons Of Imported Frozen Meat Enters Mataram City For Christmas And New Year's Needs

Activities of beef traders at Dasan Agung Market, Mataram City, West Nusa Tenggara Province. (Photo: Nirkomala/Antara)

JAKARTA - The Agriculture Service of Mataram City, West Nusa Tenggara Province, added 20 tons of imported frozen beef stock to meet the needs of hotels, caterers, and restaurants during Christmas 2021 and New Year 2022.

"The additional import of imported meat is an effort to anticipate when there is an increase in demand at the end of the year. Usually, during Christmas and New Year, many people hold parties and eat meals, and usually, the meat is the main menu," said the Head of the City Agriculture Service (Distan). Mataram Mutawalli in Mataram, reported by Antara, Friday, December 3.

According to him, imports of frozen beef are limited to a maximum of 30 percent of the needs of residents in Mataram, which currently stands at more than 100 tons per month.

"We throw imported meat into traditional markets to stabilize prices if prices rise and stock is limited so that the quota for imported meat can be increased if stock is limited and meat prices increase," he said.

For now, Mutawalli continued, the local beef stock is sufficient and the price has returned to normal and even decreased by Rp110,000 per kilogram from the previous price of Rp120,000 per kilogram.

"To meet the needs of local beef, there is no problem, we still have stock. Meanwhile, the imported beef that we bring is an anticipation of increasing demand during Nataru," he said.

In addition to importing 20 tons of imported beef, the Mataram City Office also issued a permit to import 100 tons of frozen chicken.

"A total of 100 tons of frozen chicken meat is specifically for KFC, with the reason that purchases will be crowded at the end of the year. Usually they ask for only 20 tons, but now for year-end preparation we give 100 tons according to the proposal," he said.

According to him, the import of frozen chicken meat will not affect the production price of local farmers, because frozen chicken meat already has its own market share.

"In addition to KFC, McDonalds, Trans Mart, and Lotte are also asking for it, but the amount is far below KFC," he added.