2 Years Last Soybean Prices In Batam INCREASed By 100 Percent, Tofu And Traders Lose Money

Soerang, a tofu craftsman, while producing tofu and tempeh in Batam, Riau Islands (ANTARA)

A number of tofu and tempeh craftsmen in Batam complained about the high price of soybean raw materials, which rose 100 percent in the last two years.

Chairman of the Nusantara Land Cooperative, Riau Islands Province, Susilo, said that the need for soybeans in Batam reaches 1,000 tons per month to produce tofu and tempeh.

Currently, there are 133 tofu and tempe entrepreneurs in Batam City.

"As previously stated for Batam City, 1 month, almost 1,000 tons of soybeans were used for production and 67 tofu entrepreneurs, 66 tempe entrepreneurs, the number is 133 entrepreneurs," said Susilo, quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, February 23.

He said that currently the price of soybeans has increased to Rp. 645 thousand per sack (50 kg), which was previously Rp. 380 thousand per sack.

"At the peak, it was Rp. 715 thousand. This means that the increase was 330 thousand, it was close to 100 percent, previously when I paid the last COVID-19 I paid Rp. 380 thousand per 50 kg. Today's memorandum is Rp. 645 thousand," said Susilo.

With the increase in soybean prices, which reached almost 100 percent, all tofu and tempe entrepreneurs in Batam City lost money, because they could not increase the selling price significantly.

"So we as entrepreneurs know that the tempeh increase in the last 2 years has reached 100 percent. We want to increase the price is difficult. We can't increase the price of tofu to 100 percent," said Susilo.

He added that soybeans commonly used by tofu and tempe entrepreneurs are imports from Malaysia.

"The distributor said the price of soybeans rose from its own importer, it was already expensive. The imports we know are from Malaysia, but Malaysia imports from America," said Susilo.

That way, his party asks policy makers in the Riau Islands Province to help find solutions related to the increase in soybean prices as raw material for making tofu and tempeh.