The ever-increasing cost of food :: Mmegi Online

Every trip to a retail store costs more than the previous one, with food prices rising steadily across supermarket shelves. The cost of milk, bread and God forbid we talk about cereals, has been climbing to levels that are steadily eroding the purchase power of every pula in the consumer’s pocket. But questions remain whether the price increases are purely market driven or whether some retailers are taking advantage of a strained market, writes TIMOTHY LEWANIKA

A visit by Mmegi to one of the country’s major retail stores revealed a pattern that many consumers have long suspected. Prices are reportedly being adjusted frequently, sometimes weekly, with increases moving gradually across different product aisles as a way of blindsiding consumers from the weekly increases in prices.

“Prices are being increased almost every week,” a shop assistant conspiratorially whispered to Mmegi. “It moves from aisle to aisle so that customers do not immediately notice the increase everywhere at once. “One week we increase at the staples, the other week its cleaning material and snacks.”

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