Employees defrosting packed frozen meals carried from home has become a norm in recent months as the tough economic times take a toll on households.
This, as eateries struggle with low sales with some facing closure over lack of business and cashflow to remain afloat.
Latest trend shows office workers in the city’s business areas of Westlands, Upper Hill and Kilimani, now prefer carrying packed lunch as a cost cutting measure in the wake of the rising cost of living.
Some are even opting to skip lunch as a large number of Kenyans feel the burden of the spike in food prices and reduced spending power.
“Why should I spend Sh350 on lunch daily when in can carry food from home?,” posed Paul Otieno.
Sometimes with a “heavy breakfast”, he skips lunch and only has supper when he gets back home, he says.
*Achieng’ has resorted to one meal a day which comes as a cost saving measure.
A spot check by the the Star showed a tough operating environment for food vendors and eateries as customer numbers continue to reduce.
Most have been left balancing between price and quantity to remain in business.
Mary Nyawita who operates an eatery along Muthithi Road, Westlands says daily sales have reduced by nearly 40 per cent. She has been forced to cut down on the amount of food she prepares daily.
"Of late I have been closing the day with a lot of food which remains unconsumed. To avoid wastage, I have reduced the amount i prepare," she told the Star
High commodity prices have also forced her to reduce the quantities she serves to make a profit.
Nesbit Olick, a manager at Fisherman's Lounge along Karuna Close, Westlands described the current business enviroment as 50/50.
"Sometimes sales drop as low as 50 per cent but we have maintained our services despite that," Olick told the Star.
It is now becoming increasingly expensive for Kenyan households to even afford a basic meal of ugali and sukuma wiki.
Latest data by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows food inflation has been on the rise in the past one year, increasing by 7.8 per cent year-to-date.
The rise is mainly attributed to increase in prices of food items such as tomatoes, sukuma wiki and onions, key ingredients for a basic meal.
Tomato prices have increased by 16.7 per cent between October last year and October this year to retail at Sh81.46 from Sh69.80 per kilogram.
Sukuma wiki price has gone up 3.3 per cent to retail at Sh62.11 from Sh60.13 per kilogram.
On the other hand, the price of the common bulb onions which recorded a countrywide scarcity sometime in July this year, has also been reported to have hit the high of Sh200 per kilogram.
Four months earlier it retailed at Sh50 per kg, while some wholesale traders would sell at Sh30.
However, KNBS's latest inflation report shows prices of sifted maize flour, fortified maize flour and wheat flour-white decreased by 2.9, 2.4 and 5.7 per cent in a year to October, to retail at Sh172.50, Sh195.21 and Sh189.55 per 2kg, respectively.
Even so, maize flour prices are already at their historic high despite the slight ease in the period under review.
This is despite the government’s pledge to lower the prices of the commodity starting July this year, with the promise that the country was expecting a bumper harvest of about 44 million bags in the month of August.
Agriculture PS Kello Harsama in July assured Kenyans that price of unga was likely to start dropping to levels lower than Sh175 per two-kilo packet.
“We are expecting a significant reduction of maize prices this week and also a decrease of unga prices. Maize prices are slowly decreasing from Sh6,000 per 90kg bag to about Sh5,000. This decrease will soon be reflected in unga prices on the shelves, he said.
Food prices in the country have continued to put households under pressure and pushed up the cost of living.
The source of cooking energy used by households also recorded an increase in the past one month to October.
The cost of a 13kg LPG increased to Sh3,000, a 7.3 per cent rise from Sh2,795 in September.
