Chips Makers Groan As Bag Of Plantain Hits N80,000

A bag of plantain now costs N80,000 for a 250kg bag in Abuja and chips makers are lamenting the impact on their business.

Soaring prices of gas, groundnut oil, gasoline and logistics are other challenges that small and large scale chip markers are confronted with in Nigeria’s capital city.

The impact is reflected in the cost of purchasing the chips supplied to grocery-stores.

Around March this year, a 2500kg bag of plantain was sold in major markets like the Zuba Market for between N65,000 to N70,000.

Eight months ago, it sold between N45,000 to N50,000.

“The market has changed. Price of 250kg bag of plantain is now between N78,000 to N80,000 and we just have to cope with other cost factors which have increased,” Hannatu Saidu who owns Hanasco Plantain Chips, an Abuja based chips startup told THE WHISTLER.

Grocery stores like H-Medix, Eliana Supermarket, Beagles Supermarket among others get some of their supplies from the brand.

Currently, N100 and N200 chips are no longer an option for Hanatu whose product prices now range from N400 to N1,000.

“Prices for everything from groundnut oil to gas and fuel to run our packaging machine have never been the same for some months,” she added.

Food prices are increasing in Africa’s biggest economy and everyone is suffering the effects of a food inflation which rose to 18.37 per cent in April 2022.

Analysts at Cowry Asset Management in their outlook had said, “We expect to see further increased inflationary pressure in the coming months due to rising insecurity which continues to negatively impact food distributions across the country.”

A supermarket operator, Rita, while explaining the ripple effect on sales said the quantity contained in a package has been reduced to reflect current cost of plantain.

“The people who make the chips have reduced the quantity and they still supply us at N400 and N1,000. Before, we used to receive supplies of N200 chips which we sell for N250,” she said.

She added, “Other chip makers who used to supply us the ones of N100 have stopped. Some of them complained that it is no longer profitable to sell for the same price. Others have reduced the quantity of the N100 chips.”