Getting Ready For 3 Days Of 'Fasting' Tofu Tempe After Craftsmen In Jabodetabek Stop Production, Ministry Of Trade Must Intervene Soybean Prices

Illustration-Tofu Tempe Crafts in Johar Baru (Photo VIA ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Hundreds of tofu and tempeh craftsmen in Central Jakarta are ready to temporarily stop production for the next three days from Monday, February 21 to Wednesday, February 23. The production strike of artisans followed the high raw material for soybeans.

Chairman of the Central Jakarta Indonesian Tofu and Tempe Producers Cooperative (Kopti), Khairun, said the production strike was carried out simultaneously by all tofu and tempeh craftsmen in Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi (Jabodetabek).

"All producers in Jabodetabek have closed. If they are not closed, our friends will also be 'sweeping'. Because this closure is done simultaneously," Khairun said when confirmed in Jakarta, Antara, Sunday, February 20.

Khairun explained that this action had to be carried out so that the government through the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) could intervene in the high price of imported soybeans, which currently reaches Rp. 12,000 per kg at the craft level. In fact, the normal price of imported soybeans is around Rp. 9,500 to Rp. 10,000 per kg.

"If we sell it at the usual price, we can't make a profit or even lose. We want the government to hear, consumers also know that tofu and tempeh are expensive because the raw materials have gone up," he said.

Meanwhile, one of the tofu and tempeh craftsmen in Kampung Rawa, Johar Baru, Central Jakarta, Ahmad Abdullah, admitted that the production strike was carried out because most consumers objected to the selling price of tempeh being doubled.

"The price of peanuts has soared, the selling price is also high, so it's difficult. People are surprised to buy tempeh for Rp. 5,000, now Rp. 8,000 and then Rp. 10,000, they have to stop first," he said.

Abdullah hopes that soybean prices can stabilize again, so that the production strike will not last longer, and consumers will get reasonable prices for tofu and tempeh.