Prices of Basic Commodities Across Carrefour, Naivas, and Cleanshelf in June 2022

In May 2022, food and nonalcoholic beverage prices increased by 12.4 percent due to increased production costs.

Food prices increased by 1.3 percent m/m from April 2022, mainly due to increases in the prices of maize flour, cooking fat, and cooking oil, among other food items. This was also occasioned by the adverse weather conditions in most parts of the country and high fertilizer prices.

This, coupled with other factors such as increasing fuel prices, pushed May inflation rates to 7.1 percent, from 6.5 percent recorded in April.

Those who have been to a grocery store recently can attest that basic commodity prices are increasing at double digits every day.

A spot check by Soko Directory at three different supermarkets shows that the cost of essential products is somehow cheaper at Carrefour compared to Naivas and Cleanshelf. This means you can save some cash if you walk around and compare prices before settling on a purchase.

For instance, for two kilograms of Soko, Jogoo, and Pembe maize flour, you will need 210 shillings, 210 shillings, and 200 shillings, respectively, at Cleanshelf Supermarket.

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However, the same quantity of Soko, Jogoo, and Pembe can be obtained with 210, 210, and 169 shillings, respectively, at Naivas.

Meanwhile, Carrefour retails them at 174 shillings (Soko), 207 shillings (Jogoo), and 192 shillings (Pembe).

A litre of cooking oil at Naivas will cost you 436 shillings for the Fresh Fri brand, 418 shillings for Golden Fry, and 440 for Avena. The essential commodity sells at carrefour for 410 shillings (Fresh Fri) and 435 shillings (Avena).

A 2kg bag of Exe, Ajab, and Pembe wheat flour at Naivas is currently retailing at 206 shillings, 212 shillings, and 205 shillings, respectively.

The same commodities are going for 200 shillings (Exe), 196 shillings (Ajab), and 197 shillings (Pembe)

At Clean shelf, the Ajab brand goes for 204 shillings, Pembe for 198 shillings, and Ex for 200 shillings.

A 175-gram Sunlight bar soap at Naivas is available at 66 shillings, while the same quantity of Ushindi is 70. White Wash brand is 275 shillings per Kg.

One kilogram of Zenta, Msafi, Menengai, and Ushindi bar soaps go for 210, 220, and 225 shillings at Cleanshelf.

The exact quantity of Msafi bars soap retail at 214 shillings, while 800g of Ushindi Bar soap retails at 197 shillings.

At Carrefour, a 225 grams bar of Geisha goes for 108 shillings while 175 grams of Imperial Leather is set at 150 shillings. Meanwhile, 250 grams of Sawa bathing soap retails at 90 shillings.

A 225g of bathing soaps such as Geisha and Imperial Leather bathing soaps can be acquired at 85 shillings at Naivas, while 250g of Sawa costs 90 shillings.

A four-pack of Toilex, Velvex, and Sifa tissue paper rolls sell for 160, 223, and 162 shillings at Carrefour. The prices set at Naivas Supermarket for the same products are 148 shillings for Toilex and 204 for Velvex.

The cost of a 400-gram loaf of bread ranges from between 58 and 62 shillings across the supermarkets, while a 500ml packet of milk can be obtained from between 54 to 70  shillings