Tissue paper prices: Why pooping in Kenya is now expensive

The price of tissue paper in Kenya has risen sharply in the last three months.

A product that was being sold for Sh20 earlier this year now goes for as high as Sh45, with some brands selling one for Sh60.

The doubling of tissue paper prices has caught many Kenyans by surprise, with many taking to social media to seek answers on what could have led to the price hike.

Mureithi Regeru, who heads the toilet paper sub-sector at the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), says the cost of raw materials used in producing toilet rolls has gone up significantly.

“We import most of the raw materials from Egypt. The producing nation has since increased the per unit cost by 50 per cent, compared to the prices in early 2022. The weakening of the Kenyan shilling against the US Dollar has also affected the foreign exchange rate. Today, the dollar trades at around Sh117. In January, it was trading at Sh113. That affects our ability to bargain in the foreign market,” Regeru told The Standard.

The cost of tissue paper-packaging materials, such polythene, have also gone up by around 40 per cent, said Regeru.

“Remember, we distribute these products to supermarkets, wholesalers and retailers using vehicles. So, we have to fuel our lorries, pick-ups and trucks. The cost of fuel is already up, by around 20 per cent. The extra cost is thus pushed on to the consumer,” said Regeru.

The KAM representative further said that fuel prices affect industrial operations.

“In the industries, most machines are powered by diesel. If the fuel cost goes up, again, the extra cost has to be transferred to the consumer,” said Regeru.

The KAM representative said the change in how banks charge interest on loans taken by companies has also affected how the tissue manufacturing firms operate and price the products.

“Most of these factors are beyond our control. The prices may continue to go up until the market self-rectifies,” he said.

The Consumers Federation of Kenya (COFEK), however, protests the recent price hike in basic items, saying the upward review is unjustified.

“Manufacturers and supermarkets have conspired to place unjustifiable price tags on products so that they can make exorbitant profits,” said Stephen Mutoro, the Secretary-General of COFEK.

“We’ve written to the Competition Authority of Kenya to take prompt action against the manufacturers and sellers of basic items such as tissue paper. We’ve also asked the Retail Traders Association of Kenya to control their members,” added Mutoro.

The COFEK secretary-general has asked manufacturers to publish on their websites the recommended retail prices of their products to enable the consumers be in a position to know when they are being overcharged.

“We urge the Ministry of Trade and Industrialization to develop a draft legislation on the 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,” said COFEK.

The Standard reached the CEO of Chandaria Industries Limited, one of East Africa’s largest manufacturers of tissue paper, to comment on the products’ pricing.

“I believe Mureithi Regeru of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers is best suited to respond to this query,” said Darshan Chandaria, the CEO of Chandaria Industries Limited.

Data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that the prices of basic commodities in Kenya have gone up, with food accounting for 36 per cent of expenses among low-income earners.

In May 2022, Kenya’s inflation rate hit a new record of 7.1 per cent as the cost of food and beverages continued to rise sharply, partly affected by the war in Ukraine.

The data released by the KNBS shows that the overall year-on-year inflation rate for May 2022 was 7.1 per cent compared to 6.47 percent in April 2022.

“The housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels’ index, increased by 0.6 per cent between April 2022 and May 2022,” said KNBS.