The Price Of Imported Soybeans In South Sumatra's OKU Rises Sharply, Entrepreneurs Are Forced To Turn Their Brains Down To Reduce The Size Of Tempe

One of the workers at Hamdani's place is washing imported soybeans which are used as the main raw material for making tempeh/ANTARA

OKU - Tempe entrepreneurs in Baturaja City, Ogan Komering Ulu Regency, South Sumatra complained about the surge in the price of imported soybeans, which is currently in the range of Rp. 13,000 per kilogram, or more than twice as high as before.

"Of course it is very burdensome for us as producers because imported soybeans are the main raw material for making tempe with good quality," said Hamdani, one of the tempe entrepreneurs in Baturaja, Ogan Komering Ulu (OKU), quoted from Antara, Wednesday, June 29.

With the increase in soybean prices since the beginning of last year, his party was forced to work around it so as not to lose money. Because, he said, with the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic, raising the price of tempeh in the market is feared to further reduce people's purchasing power.

Therefore, most of the tempe craftsmen in the area managed to reduce the size and thickness of tempe without increasing the selling price in the market, which was still in the range of Rp. 5,000 to Rp. 10,000 per stick.

Hamdani hopes that the government will immediately find a solution to lower the price of imported soybeans so that sales turnover returns to normal.

"Nowadays, people's purchasing power has fallen sharply. Previously I could sell as much as 350 kilograms of tempeh per day. Now it sells at most 75 kg," he said.