Modern Retail Turnover Drops Due To Rice Cases And Transfers Of Shopping Patterns To Traditional Markets

Modern retail (Photo: unsplash)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Indonesian Retail Entrepreneurs Association (Aprindo), Solihin, acknowledged that there has been a decline in turnover in modern retail since the emergence of cases of rice findings did not match quality standards.

In addition to these cases, the shift in people's spending patterns from modern retail to traditional markets also affects the sales performance of rice in retail outlets.

However, the decline in turnover that occurred was considered insignificant considering modern retail sold thousands of types of products.

"If asked down, it will definitely go down (the assets). But if it's significant, no, because what we sell at outlets is thousands of items," he told VOI, Friday, August 8.

Solihin added that he did not yet hold official data regarding the amount of turnover decrease because he was still waiting for a complete report from Aprindo members in various regions.

"I can't answer yet (the exact number of turnover decreases due to rice cases), because I'm still waiting for a report," he said.

In the case of rice not according to this quality standard, the National Police's Food Task Force has named the names of suspects from two rice producing companies PT Food Station Tjipinang and PT Padi Indonesia Maju (PIM).

For their actions, the suspects were charged with Law (UU) No. 8 of 1999 concerning Consumer Protection and Law no. 8 of 2010 concerning the Crime of Money Laundering (TPPU), with a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of Rp. 10 billion.

Even though the investigation related to this case continues, the National Police's Food Task Force and the government have repeatedly appealed to business actors to reduce rice prices that are not in accordance with quality standards while selling them to the market.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Agriculture (Mentan), Andi Amran Sulaiman, highlighted the phenomenon of shifting rice spending by the community from modern retail to traditional markets. According to him, this phenomenon has a positive impact, especially for small traders.