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COMMENTARY: Where's the beef ? Ask the cartel and (corrupt) politicians
Still counted among the biggest rice eaters in the world, Indonesians are starting to put more beef on the table. But they are paying among the highest prices in the world.
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Consumers buy beef at the Pasar Minggu in South Jakarta. (JP/Viriya Paramita Singgih)
I
ndonesians are slowly changing their eating habits as their incomes rise. Still counted among the biggest rice eaters in the world, they are starting to put more beef on the table. Not steaks, burgers or roast beef, but beef dishes such as gulai (curry) or semur (stew in soy sauce) and dendeng ( jerky).
What prevents them from eating even more beef is not so much health concerns as the steep prices they have to pay for the meat. This is partly because of the supply and demand situation, the government’s rigid beef import policy, and a conspiracy between some beef importers and corrupt politicians.
Indonesians trail behind their neighbors when it comes to meat consumption, averaging 2.61 kilogram per person each year, against 15 kg for Singaporeans and 7 kg for Filipinos.
But they are paying among the highest prices in the world. Housewives scream at the government whenever meat prices shoot up around big national holidays like Idul Fitri and Christmas. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo always responds by allowing more imports at those particular times to ease prices.
But in between these beef crises, the government has been struggling to increase local production and step up the fight against the cartel of powerful meat importers who conspire with politicians in high places to keep imports out and prices high.
This year, the price of a kilogram of the best beef cut in Jakarta averaged Rp 110,000 (US$8.30), more than double what Malaysians and Singaporeans are paying. Prices tend to be higher the farther away you are from Jakarta.
Have sympathy for Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman and Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita for failing to deliver on Jokowi’s instruction to bring meat prices to below Rp 80,000. If anything, the trajectory is likely to be prices continuing to rise on the back of everincreasing demand.
