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Pricey ‘pecel lele’: Global inflation crisis scorches Greater Jakarta’s food stalls
Food stall owners in Greater Jakarta have had to increase their prices to keep up with steep rises in wheat, soybean, chili and onion prices.
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A roadside food vendor makes 'pecel lele', a traditional dish of deep-fried catfish served with fresh vegetables and sambal (chili paste), in Cipadu, South Tangerang, Banten, on July 15, 2022. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
J
akarta may be thousands of kilometers away from the fire and ashes of the war in Ukraine, but the city’s residents have begun to feel the pinch of the high global inflation unleashed by Russia’s invasion of its neighbor.
City dwellers who rely on establishments such as warung Tegal (Tegal food stalls), or warteg, and street food stalls selling pecel lele (fried catfish with rice, sambal and vegetables) have seen steep rises in the prices of their favorite budget eateries.
Abidin, the owner of a warteg in West Jakarta, is facing difficult times as prices for ingredients rise on a monthly basis in response to supply and shipping constraints imposed by the Russia-Ukraine war.
Abidin has had to spend more on ingredients such as wheat flour, whose price he said was up some 43 percent to Rp 11,000 (US$73 cents) per kg.
Before the war, about a quarter of Indonesia's imported wheat came from Ukraine, whose ports Moscow is now blockading.
Abidin said the prices of tofu and tempeh, both soy products, had also increased by around 55 and 40 percent, respectively, to Rp 21,000 and Rp 10,000 per piece.
"Egg prices have also gone up […]. Fortunately, the price of rice has not gone up significantly. But still, the price increases have been crazy, and I think they’re still going up," Abidin told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
