Our attention is drawn to the increasing number of complaints on retail chains taking advantage of the impending general elections, high inflation and the Russian-Ukraine war to arbitrarily increase prices of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs).
Affected goods include maize meal, wheat flour, sugar, cooking oil, tissue paper, milk, groceries, among others.
Abuse of buyer power between manufacturers and supermarkets is hurting both manufacturers and consumers alike. Retail chains are varying prices at will and in an exorbitant manner.
Accordingly, we call upon the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) to take immediate actions to restore order within the retail chains, countrywide. Equally, we expect Retail Traders Association of Kenya (RETRAK) to rein in on their members before we publicly cite them and call for consumer boycott.
Further, we demand that manufacturers communicate their updated Recommended Retail Price (RRP) on their websites with immediate effect. This would allow consumers to make necessary price comparisons.
Consumers are also advised to communicate to Cofek via hotline@cofek.africa, twitter: @Cofek_Africa and www.facebook.com/consumerskenya or tel. 0715555550/0733180008 on suspect pricing
Finally, we urge the Ministry of Trade and Industry to develop a draft legislation on regulation of retail chains in Kenya – from contracts with suppliers, their prompt payments, capping maximum variation levels from RRPs, Shelf versus till pricing; Selling expired goods and specifying other measures to protect the consumers that are increasingly falling victims to the insatiable greed by retailers to make unjustified income.
