Just More 'Spicy' The Price Of Cayenne Pepper In Palembang, Soars Rp. 65,000 Per Kilogram

Photo via Antara

JAKARTA - The price of cayenne pepper in a number of traditional markets in Palembang, South Sumatra, has jumped from the normal price of Rp. 25,000-Rp. 30,000 per kilogram to Rp. 64,000-Rp. 65,000 per kilogram.

This price increase has occurred since one week before the end of the year, even at around Rp. 70,000 per kilogram.

"This has dropped to IDR 60,000 per kilogram, previously it was IDR 70,000 per kilogram," said Tuti, a chili trader at Palembang's Perumnas Market, Saturday, January 8, as reported by Antara.

However, this price increase did not occur for red chilies, which were monitored at Rp. 20,000 per kilogram (medium quality), curly red chilies at Rp. 25,000 per kilogram and bird chili at Rp. 12,000 per kilogram.

Sholeh, a chili trader at Lemabang Market, said that because of the high price of cayenne pepper, some women switched to bird chili, which is cheaper.

"Let's save more," said Sholeh.

The commodity of cayenne pepper is a necessity in Palembang because it is the main ingredient for making pempek vinegar, a regional specialty. This cayenne pepper will be mixed with garlic, tamarind, brown sugar, salt and water to make pempek vinegar.

Meanwhile, the prices of shallots and garlic were observed to be relatively stable in Palembang at around Rp. 24,000 per kilogram.

Meanwhile, Head of the Regional Inflation Control Team (TPID) of South Sumatra Province Hari Widodo said the increase in the price of cayenne pepper was due to reduced supply from agricultural production centers such as Pagaralam and Ogan Ilir.

"This is because it is influenced by high rainfall conditions in the production area, so that the production of cayenne pepper decreases," said the Head of Bank Indonesia, South Sumatra Province.

Meanwhile, based on Antara's monitoring, Saturday (8/1), a number of important basic needs were still high, such as Fortune brand packaged cooking oil reaching Rp. 18,500 per liter, chicken eggs at Rp. 23,000 per kilogram, and purebred chicken at Rp. 36,000 per kilogram. .

Medium rice Rp 11,000 per kilogram, red beans Rp 22,000 per kilogram, peanuts Rp 28,000 per kilogram, green beans Rp 22,000 per kilogram, sugar Rp 13,000 per kilogram and beef Rp 140,000 per kilogram.