Empty shelves at supermarkets as consumers stock maize flour

A week after President Uhuru Kenyatta announced the Sh8 billion national maize flour subsidy, supermarket shelves are almost empty as retailers blame the slow inflow from the millers, coupled with panic buying by consumers.

The new situation has resulted in the management of the supermarkets limiting purchases to just one or two packets of maize flour per customer.

A spot check by People Daily revealed that maize flour supply in most major supermarkets is low, a situation that has been caused by a low supply of the commodity by the millers.

At major supermarkets within Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD) including Naivas and Quickmart, the shelves had very little unga, forcing attendants to limit customers to purchasing a maximum of two 2kg packets.

Retail Trade Association of Kenya (RETRAK) confirmed discharge of the commodity from the millers is low while consumers have equally rushed to buy the product one week after the government announced a subsidy programme to stabilise the market.  

“The outflow from millers is slow and not getting onto the shelves in a timely manner based on the demand. Consumer demand has also spiked based on the price bearing in mind not all millers were listed for the subsidy,” said Wambui Mbarire, RETRAK’s CEO.

She said the ministry signed on only 129 millers for the 100/= per 2kg subsidy so the demand on them is quite strenuous. All working together to ensure continuous availability. We ask consumers to buy their usual quantities. Some consumers are even shifting to un-sifted maize flour from posho mills in order to feed their families.

“I entered one of the major supermarkets in the CBD on my way home from work and an attendant told me that my timing was wrong and that I needed to come early when the unga was available. He told me the maize flour comes between 10.00 am and within one hour it is finished, and the unga comes in small quantities so there is a rush to buy the little that is available,” said Beatrice Mwangi, a consumer residing in Nairobi’s Eastlands.

People Daily also established that most of the retail shops in Mombasa had started experiencing shortages of the staple that had been subsidized by the government.

Kwa Karama villagers in Nyali, said that since the government reduced the price of the maize flour, the supply has dwindled drastically, subjecting them to a wait-and-see situation.

Subsidised maize flour

Christine Kabuya, a resident of the Kwa Karama area, claimed there was no subsidized maize flour in most of the shops in the area.  She said most outlets are still trading the older stocks at the previous Sh230 price per 2 kg.

 “Most of us when we go to retail stores we are restricted to pick only three packets per person, this has sparked fears that the product may soon become scarce,” said Kabuya asking the government to ensure a constant supply of the product.

Evina Umazi, a shopkeeper in the Kongowea area said they were forced to reduce their daily stocks so that the product can serve needy customers elsewhere.

“The price has reduced, and many customers are trooping here, but we are not getting our stocks the way we request our distributors, and even when it comes, they can’t supply you with all the stocks you had requested,” claimed Umazi.

Paul Miiri, the chief accountant at Kitui Flour Mills, said that by yesterday, the firm had increased its daily production to meet market demand. This is after the government subsidized the price of production of the commodity for a period of four weeks. The millers sources its maize from in Zambia and Tanzania where 90kg bag costs Sh6,000.

In four weeks, the Ministry of Agriculture will pay part of the cost of producing maize flour in order to cushion Kenyans from the effect of rising in the price of the commodity.

“We are contemplating increasing the production so as to meet demand. In a day, we produce 650 tons of unga but we may be forced to increase so that many customers can get relief,” he said.

Spot-checks in some retail outlets in Migori county established that traders had reduced the prices of the commodity to meet the consumers demand. But some were hoarding it.

With the administration, police and other government officials now out to ensure that the prices are low, some traders have opted to drain their shelves.

One of the traders who sought anonymity in Kisumu city decried the limited supply of maize flour. While maize flour supplies remained erratic, the cost of other products went down. Cooking oil is now fetching at Sh250 a litre down from the previous Sh380.

Reporting by Nicholas Waitathu, Harrison Kivisu and Kephers Otieno