By NATION TEAM newsdesk@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Thursday, August 25 2011 at 22:30
Posted Thursday, August 25 2011 at 22:30
Sugar shortage continues to bite with a kilogramme of the commodity selling at an all-time high of Sh210 in some retail outlets.
And this despite an advertisement by sugar miller Mumias Sugar Company setting out the recommended retail prices for its brands.
In less than two months the price of the commodity has increased from between Sh195 and Sh200 for a 2kg packet to between Sh400 and Sh475.
In Nyeri, sugar was on Thursday retailing at between Sh199 and Sh210 per kilogramme in several major retail outlets, with traders blamed the high prices on soaring wholesale costs.
The Mumias sugar brand was conspicuously missing in the town.
“We have not had Mumias branded sugar on our shelves for a month,” said Ms Jane Nyawira, a manager at Woodley Supermarket.
The retailers said customers were cutting down on the amount of sugar they were buying due to the high prices.
In Kisumu, the shortage has led to increased prices, with some supermarkets stopping stocking the commodity.
“Our shelves are empty because of the scarcity of sugar and the high purchasing prices,” an attendant at Nakumatt Supermarket said.
Ukwala Supermarket was the only outlet with sugar on its shelves selling Mumias 2 kg pack at Sh475 and Sony Sugar at Sh230 per 1 kg packet.
Consumers in the town have now turned to other sweeteners like honey.
In Eldoret, Nakuru and Naivasha, prices remained high even as customers accused some supermarkets of hoarding the product.
Wholesale traders said the government could have averted the sugar crisis three months ago.
Stories by Charles Mwaniki, Joyce Kimani, Elizabeth Wanjiru, Gerald Andae and Lilian Ochieng’
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