THE retail price of mealie-meal has been increased by about K5 after millers hiked the cost of the staple food by K2 on account of the removal of fuel and maize subsidies.
Prices for a 25 kilogram bag have gone up by K2 and up to K6 for wholesale and retail respectively effective July 8, a survey has revealed.
Millers Association of Zambia president Allan Sakala said the increase has been necessitated by the removal of subsidies on fuel and maize.
But the Zambia Consumer Association (ZACA) has urged milling companies not to use the removal of subsidies to exploit consumers.
Mr Sakala who could not disclose by how much millers have increased the mealie-meal, however, indicated that, “Some milling companies have increased the price due to individual costs that firms incur during production. Their [millers’] duty is to make available the product at an affordable price.”
A survey conducted by the Daily Mail in Lusaka yesterday revealed that most retail outlets are selling the commodity between K58 and K63 for breakfast and between K40 and K42 for roller meal.
Wholesale price for Pembe, Simba and Milile brands have been increased to K58 from K56 while National Milling’s Mother’s Pride is now fetching K54 from K52.
For roller meal, Mother’s Pride is at K40 from K38 while Milile is now K42 from K40.
Some retail shops in Kamwala and Kabwata are selling a 25kg bag of Pembe and Simba breakfast mealie-meal at K62 and K63, while at Levy Business Park’s Pick N Pay, Simba K60.
Meanwhile, ZACA executive director Muyunda Ililonga urged milling firms to exercise morals as they run their businesses and refrain from the culture of reaping from consumers’ little resources.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Mr Ililonga said, “Business houses should learn how to run their business in the long term and not just looking at gaining profits and forgetting that every business needs to stabilise and create customer loyalty.
ZACA is appealing to business houses not to take advantage of the removal of subsidies on fuel and maize to exploit consumers by increasing mealie meal prices.”
Only K2? these guys should be serious we expected them to increase by K10 or K15 am disappointed with these millers we need to feel the increase but like that some of us we wont even notice the increase go PF go
K2, my friend is alot for most average zambians,,, and you must know that in zambia today you still people earning k500 (just under 100 dollars) per month,
mealie meal is not a `good thing` to play with, PF has problems to come on their hands
Dr Bill,just like your name goes means u got money but think of the poor ghetto someone
Sata says the poor gaisha and dont buy mealie meal.
Am sure the Chigayo runs on water!
even if chiyayo runs on water,, it wont work, beacuse there is a serious shortage of water in the country
unfortunately the people who gaisha will increase their prices too, Sata should have
provided alternatives if subsidies are that bad, with no more help for the people from the government, millers now have an upper hand and will exploit the situation
and pass all their costs to the consumer
More money n your pockets my a#s!!, and they where saying they removed the subsidies because they poor where not benefiting?! So where are the benefits now?
Very soon, ubunga bwalalingana na flour
Touching the stomach again. Where to PF? Where is Sata? Sata now has no powers to intervene? Oh, cry my beloved country.
Millers should have morals indeed. They should not take advantage of the monopoly they enjoy. There is no increase in the price of maize , why should they increase the maize flour price? Have moral imwe ba ngwele.
Peace and Prosperity to Mother Zambia.
Monopoly are you sure?
Ukwanites are semi literates. He doesn’t know the meaning of the word, Monopoly.
Subsidies dont benefit the poor, so the poor are okay with this – says the president!
Food will coutinue to be hiked while unempolyment is unimagineable. Where we are heading to only our Lord God knows.
where is hunger? roller meal is K36
the problem i have seen is zambians want ama coupon
A 10kg bag of mealie-meal bf in South Africa cost R65.00 meaning the a 25kg would averagely cost R150.00 which when converted to Kwacha would be K80.00 so it is still very cheap kaloko
Iwe the ‘pulp’ is not as largely consumed in SA as in yo average neighbourhoods.
U’d also do well to give us a comparative analysis between SA and Z for costs of such commodities as fuel, bread, electricity, airtime and even beer!
im sure you were cheated that maelie mael z that. ask those who go there in monthly bases. don’t support long thing.
@MKV,
South Africa’s per capita income is $9000 while Zambia’s is $1400. South Africans have more purchasing power than Zambians. The economic conditions in SA are not the same as in Zambia.
continue suffering, I am not suffering
Pf is under 5. prices going up everywhere. no money in our pockets.
\only 2 kwacha! Let them increase by at least K10 so that they can have enough money to build our roads!
People in Zambia must change, they should stop eating nshima three times a day, this day and age people can be that dullo, i mean be creative, eat tute, kandolo, bread for dinner with soup plus salads, imwe how dull are we kanshi, i thought a human beings survival instincts surge when in danger? Look at it this way, so long as nshima remains your main meal, you will cry foul till you are a thousand years, kill that monopoly middle man by making him dance to his own tune.
I blame it on the parents, teach your children that rice, bread, potatoes, vegitables, salades vitumbuwas meat, fish etc can be your Nshimas, when times are hard become hard aswell.
So we’re in danger now?
CNTD:
Imwe baba, it’s time you held seminars on this issue, dont give me the expensive excuse thing, you have land and water, grow vegitables and salads, you dont need to buy these things, i know not everyone can afford bread or milk, there is always something for everyone, common use your brains people, problem people are so lazy in zambia what can i say accept, some of these issues we call them up ourselves, STOP EATING NSHIMA IMWE BANTU! government teach people how to make samptious deliscious meals out of nothing, encourage them to help themselves, whats wrong with us kanshi? go to the Carribeans, Asia, Easten Europe, there are poor people worse than Zambia, yes believe me you, worse than Zed, but they know how to make things work, atleast they try!
It’s a metaphor naiwe!
No this is ‘benefitting the poor’ according to the PF.
Silly to assume tute, rice are free
Silly is you who cant even read between the lines, should everything be broken down for you as though you were a todler?
The same people were say KK wamuyaya ..but when the price of mealie meal went up there where riots on the C/belt and in Lusaka recall shops like ZCBC,NIEC and Mwaisen were looted.We hope this time around you will endure and keep listening to the reasons of removal of subsidies.
Let us be like our counter parts in Tanzania.For buying ubunga means buying maize and gaisha.It is very rare to find mealie meal bags in shops because people have the cheaper option of gaisha and no market for the millers.This is done by both the rich and the poor.In our compounds, people just buy maize and gaisha.The President is right.
Ba cindy u kno that even mwa kaunda that didn’t work wat do u understand by the term staple food iwe malinso
awe twalacimona,bushe rice ni free?don’t compare the purchasing power of the rand to the kwacha.