Bulog Rice Enter Retail, Buwas: Entrepreneurs Don't Take Profits, Selled According To HET Rp9,450 Per Kg

President Director of Perum Bulog Budi Waseso. (Photo: Mery Handayani/VOI)

JAKARTA - The Logistics Affairs Agency (Perum Bulog) ensures that business actors do not take advantage of the sale of Bulog medium rice which is channeled through market operations or Stability of Supply and Food Prices (SPHP) to modern retailers.

Bulog President Director, Budi Waseso alias Buwas, said the selling price of rice released in modern retailers was at the highest retail price (HET) of IDR 9,450 per kilogram (kg).

The rice sold by Bulog in modern retail in the form of 5 kg packaging. This means that people can buy Bulog rice at a price of IDR 47,250 per 5kg.

Buwas, Budi Waseso's nickname, believes modern retail business actors do not profit from the transaction.

The reason is, he once emphasized that market operating rice should not be taken advantage of.

The selling price of Bulog rice in retail is the same, Rp9,450 per kg as in traditional markets. He (the retail entrepreneur) did not take the margin. This is extraordinary," said Buwas when met in the Hypermart Puri Indah area, Kembangan, West Jakarta, Tuesday, February 8.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Indonesian Retail Entrepreneurs Association (Aprindo), Roy Nicholas Mandey revealed that the price of Bulog rice obtained by retailers from the distribution center (DC) was IDR 8,625 per kg.

From the price obtained by the retailer, there is a difference of around Rp. 825 per kg from the highest retail price (HET) of Rp. 9,450 per kg.

The difference or margin, said Roy. used for loading and unloading costs, transportation costs to outlets, to merchandise costs to occupy store shelves.

Therefore, said Roy, the difference is considered quite thin to cover the distribution costs up to the retail outlet.

"So we can count, so that the President Director of Bulog stated that there is no margin. Yes, there is no margin. This is very thin. For us, it is essentially one food availability, and maintaining price availability," he said.

Roy also guaranteed that the price of Bulog's market operation rice sold in modern retail would not exceed the HET set by the government.

"We make sure to sell according to HET and us because directly from Bulog it does not go directly through distributors and agents, we can make sure the price is not more than HET," he explained.

On that occasion, Roy also said that Bulog rice is an alternative choice for the community.

Given that the rice is premium quality rice but is sold at medium prices.

This rice is premium quality, but the price is medium. This is rice that the people really are waiting for. The stigma that said Bulog rice was not good, not good and so on, it turns out that we witnessed that today the stigma was no longer there," he said.

The Bulog rice that has entered the modern retail network, including Ramayana, Hypermarket, Transmart and Indogrosir, is 500 tons.

"As of two days, 150 tons of this store has been entered at Hypermart, 75 tons a day, but yesterday retailers who sold SPHP were already in Ramayana, Indogrosir, Transmart already has 500 tons," he said.