Meat sellers in Murang'a decry poor sales due to increased prices

Murang'a,

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

KNA by Purity Mugo/Martin Macharia 

Meat sellers in Murang'a are decrying low sales as the prices of various choice cuts of meats continue to rise. 

The various sellers who spoke to KNA said that the prices of pork, goat meat and beef keep rising due to various factors including scarcity of the meat from the slaughterhouses and increased production costs. 

Mercy Bidan, a pork seller in one of the local butcheries, stated that the price of pork has sharply increased from Sh.440 to Sh. 650 per kilo, something she says has led to a decrease in sales as Kenyans are generally struggling with the high cost of living. 

 “The high cost of meat together with that of transport is affecting us in our business, it has led to a decrease in the quantity we sell daily as compared to the past months,” she said. 

 “If someone is used to buying meat worth Sh400 they will still buy meat worth that amount even though the quantity has decreased,” she added. 

Similarly, John Ndegwa who sells goat meat told KNA his business has been affected since the price has risen from Sh600 to Sh750 per kilo over the past one year.

He argued that the scarcity of meat due to high demand from international markets, leading suppliers to prioritize them over local sellers and that high fuel prices have contributed to the increase in transportation costs, further driving up the price of meat. 

 “The scarcity and high cost of transportation has really affected our business in addition to the scarcity since our suppliers tend to prioritize the international market over the local market since the international market fetches higher prices as compared to us,” Ndegwa said. 

Linda Njeri, who sells chicken, said that although the prices of chicken have remained generally constant, price increases may be inevitable due to the rising costs of animal feed and the approaching festive season. 

“Currently the chicken prices have not changed much but they may increase soon due to increase in the cost of chicken feed and Christmas and New Year festivities,” she said. 

Courtesy; KNA