Based on data from the Ministry of Trade, chili prices in Indonesia increased in October 2023, including red chilies, curly red chilies, and large red chilies.
Throughout October 2023, the national average price of red chilies reached Rp55,934 per kilogram (kg), a 37.8% increase compared to the previous month (month-on-month/mom).
The average price of red chilies in October 2023 was the highest among other chili types. The monthly price increase was also the highest.
In October 2023, the average price of curly red chilies increased by 11.3% (mom) to Rp45,241 per kg, and the average price of large red chilies increased by 7.8% to Rp43,138 per kg.
Although all prices increased, they were not as high as last year, where the national average chili price reached Rp77,000 to Rp87,000 per kg in July 2022.
In recent years, chili prices in Indonesia have been highly volatile, as shown in the graph above.
"The fluctuating chili prices are indeed a concern," said Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan, as reported by Antara on Monday (30/10/2023).
According to Zulkifli, the price volatility of chilies in Indonesia is partly due to farmers lacking the technology for chili processing and preservation.
"The utilization of technology is necessary to reach new markets and create derivative products. Using technology to process derivative products from farmers' harvests can help maintain price stability in the market," said Zulkifli.
"We don't yet have the equipment for chili processing technology, and we are currently considering how to preserve chilies. We don't want farmers to suffer losses when the harvest price is only Rp15,000 per kilogram. A normal price of at least Rp40,000 per kilogram would be ideal. However, we also don't want the price to rise to Rp100,000 per kilogram when there's no harvest; that's too high," he added.