Counter Watch: A Price Check Across Choppies, Naivas and Tuskys Supermarkets

Four days into the now dreaded September as the cost of living is expected to double as the budget takes shape and is expected to wound Kenyan’s pocket.

A look at the price of commodities currently paints a glim picture considering the high unemployment rate and degradable wages among the low-income earners. The number of Kenyan’s going to bed without a single meal a day continues to rise adding to the number of beggars in the streets.

The realization of counterfeit goods has advantaged the distributors who withhold commodities to create demand and enable them to raise the prices unfairly.

Currently, at Choppies supermarket Mwea rice is selling at 208 shillings per kilogram compared to Tuskys where the same is 220 shillings and Naivas where it is 215 shillings.

Nutra-meal sugar 2 kilograms is selling at 315 shillings at Choppies compared to 290 shillings at Naivas, while Mara sugar which seemed more available across the supermarkets, is 300 shillings per 2 kilograms at Choppies while at Naivas and Tuskys it’s 290 shillings.

Soko Maize flour, 2 kilograms, is 88 shillings across the three supermarkets; Jogoo maize flour is selling at 92 shillings at both Choppies and Tuskys while Naivas is selling the same pack at 89 shillings.

Pembe is selling at 92 shillings at Choppies, while 89 shillings at Tuskys and 88 shillings at Naivas. Ndovu maize flour 2 kilograms pack is selling at 87 shillings in Naivas, 89 shillings at Tuskys and 94 shillings at Choppies.

A 500 grams packet of Ketepa tea leaves is selling at 246 shillings at all the three supermarkets while a 500gram packet of Kericho Gold is selling at 335 shillings in Choppies supermarket while the same pack is selling at 210 shillings in Tuskys and Naivas.

A kilogram of Omo washing powder is selling at 290 across the three supermarkets while a kilogram of Ariel is selling at 235 shillings at Choppies and 290 at Tuskys and Naivas. A kilogram of Sunlight washing powder is selling at 240 shillings at Tuskys and 250 shillings at Naivas and Choppies.

As Kenyans anxiously wait, the implementation of the budget, set to take place in September we can only hope distributors will not take advantage of the already drained taxpayer to double profits.