Jakarta (The Indonesian News) – The government is making efforts to stabilize egg prices in the market. This move is also aimed at safeguarding the welfare of farmers.
To that end, the government, through the Ministry of Trade, has prepared several measures to maintain stable egg prices at the farm level. One of these measures involves absorbing livestock produce for use in various state programs, including the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) initiative.
Trade Minister Budi Santoso said the government has coordinated with the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) to increase egg absorption through the Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units (SPPG) in regions experiencing oversupply.
“Recently, in several areas, especially in East Java, in Blitar, egg prices dropped. So we have coordinated with the BGN and the new head of BGN, mandating that SPPG in those areas absorb eggs. This way, prices can approach or align with the ceiling price, so farmers will experience favorable prices,” Budi said at his office on Thursday (June 4, 2026).
According to him, this step was taken to stabilize egg prices, which are currently under pressure due to abundant production. The government hopes that absorption by SPPG can help maintain the balance between supply and demand in the market.
In addition to the MBG program, the government is also exploring the use of food aid programs to absorb commodities experiencing production surpluses, including chicken eggs.
“Food aid will be adjusted accordingly. For example, when egg prices are falling, food aid doesn’t necessarily have to be Minyakita cooking oil or rice it could also be eggs,” Budi said.
He explained that this policy aims to ensure farmers’ output remains absorbed by the market when oversupply threatens to push down prices at the producer level. He noted that current egg production has exceeded national demand by 12 percent.
“So this is to absorb our food products or our staple commodities, whose production is currently appearing abundant. Egg production now has a 12 percent surplus. So this absorption will be good for farmers,” he added.
Improving Distribution Governance
Budi believes the main issue at present is not a lack of demand but rather the need to improve distribution and absorption management so that abundant production can be channeled optimally.
“The absorption capacity actually exists; we just need to manage the SPPG system well so that eggs can be absorbed properly,” he said.
Not only eggs, the government also plans to apply a similar scheme to other commodities experiencing price declines at the farm level, such as chicken meat.
These measures are expected to maintain food commodity price stability while also providing market certainty for farmers and food sector businesses amid abundant production conditions.
“Not only eggs. For staple commodities like chicken meat if prices fall below the standard we will also ask the BGN to absorb them through SPPG,” Budi concluded.
Previously, hundreds of laying hen farmers in Blitar Regency held an action giving away eggs to the public for free as prices plummeted. The number of eggs distributed reached 1 million units.
Current egg prices range from 20,000 to 21,000 rupiah per kilogram at the farm level. This figure is far below the production cost of 24,000 rupiah per kilogram.
Source: Press Release from the Government Communications Agency (Bakom) of the Republic of Indonesia
