Naivas, Carrefour, Quickmart: State of the economy by shopping for basic goods at 3 supermarkets

In May 2022, Kenya's inflation rate grew by 7.1 per cent up from 6.5 per cent in April; the highest in over two years since February 2020.

The rising inflation, spurred largely by the adverse economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, has unsurprisingly affected the prices of  commodities globally owing to various supply chain constraints and surging demand. 

Anyone who has been grocery shopping of late can confirm that prices for almost everything are higher and increasing at double-digit rates.

With many households struggling to put food on their tables now more than ever, Kenyans are now wisely minding their wallets in a bid to ensure that they do not overspend on basic household commodities.

A spot check by Citizen Digital on three different supermarkets, Quickmart, Naivas and Carrefour, has however revealed that you can easily save some significant cash if you patiently move around supermarkets and compare prices before settling for a purchase.

Two kilograms of Soko, Jogoo and Pembe maize flour at Quickmart will set consumers back Ksh.213, Ksh.207 and Ksh.203 respectively.

On the other hand, the Soko, Jogoo and Pembe brands, of the same quantity, can be obtained with Ksh.210, Ksh.206 and Ksh.209 at Naivas while Carrefour retails them at Ksh.174 (Soko), Ksh.207 (Jogoo) and Ksh.192 (Pembe).

A 2kg bag of Exe, Ajab, Ndovu wheat flour at Quickmart is currently retailing at Ksh.206, Ksh.212 and Ksh.204 respectively.

The same commodities are going for Ksh.200 (Exe), Ksh.212 (Ajab) and Ksh.204 (Ndovu) at Naivas. The Exe and Pembe brands are in contrast retailing for Ksh.200 and Ksh.197 respectively at Carrefour.

Should you walk into Naivas Supermarket looking for a litre of cooking oil you will have to fork out Ksh.428 for the Fresh Fri brand, Ksh.405 for Golden Fry and Ksh.440 for Avena. The essential commodity is selling at Quickmart for Ksh.436 (Fresh Fri) and Ksh.440 (Avena).

A litre of Fresh Fri, Golden Fry and Avena are selling for Ksh.400, Ksh.413 and Ksh.440 respectively at Carrefour.

A kilogram of sugar at Quickmart ranges from between Ksh.125 to Ksh.130 with the commodity also available from between Ksh.120 to Ksh.124 at Naivas.  The same amount of sugar is retailing at Carrefour supermarket from Ksh.120.

500 grams of salt at Quckmart will also set you back Ksh.21, Ksh.15 at Naivas and Ksh.33 at Carrefour.

A 900-gram Sunlight bar soap at Quickmart is available at Ksh.299, while Ushindi and White Wash brands are available for Ksh.202 and Ksh.217 respectively.

Zenta, Menengai, White Wash and Ushindi bar soaps go for Ksh.219, Ksh.260, Ksh.275 and Ksh.250 respectively at Naivas. The same quantity of Jamaa and WhiteStar bar soap retail at Ksh.209 and Ksh.228 at Carrefour.

175 grams of Geisha, Imperial Leather and Sawa bathing soaps at Quickmart sell for Ksh.88, Ksh.125 and Ksh.60 while at Naivas they can be acquired at Ksh.85 (Geisha) and Ksh.85 (Imperial Leather).

At Carrefour a 225 grams bar of Geisha goes for Ksh.108 while 175 grams of Imperial Leather is set at Ksh.150. 250 grams of Sawa bathing soap retails at Ksh.90.

A four-pack of Toilex, Velvex, Hanaan and Sifa tissue paper rolls sell for Ksh.160, Ksh.223, Ksh.220 and Ksh.162 respectively. The asking prices for the brands at Naivas are set at Ksh.148 (Toilex), Ksh.204 (Velvex) and Ksh.220 (Hanaan)

The price of a 400-gram loaf of bread ranges from between Ksh.58 and Ksh.62 across the supermarkets while a 500ml packet of milk can be obtained from between Ksh.54 to Ksh.68.

A kilogram of Sunrice Biryani at Quickmart is set at Ksh.216 while the Ranee brand sells for Ksh.202.

Quickmart's in-house rice brand is the most affordable at the supermarket going for Ksh.171 per kilogram.

At Naivas, 2 kilograms of Sunrice is retailing at Ksh.336, Daawat (Ksh.343) and Mwea pishori at Ksh.220 while at Carrefour the same quantity of Dawaat is selling at Ksh.335, Sunrice (Ksh.329) and CIL at (Ksh.223).