The 'economy pack' phenomenon

One of the things that shocked me as soon as I came in was the whole thing around supermarket shopping here. Well, to start, Uganda is plainly very expensive. I know that somebody challenged me when I said this recently, however she doesn't really live in Kampala (she was visiting from Nairobi), and most of the Kenyans I know, for instance, agree with me, they say that they thought Nairobi was expensive until they got here!

The reason why is so expensive is that because everything is pretty much imported. Ok, I am not referring to the vegetables which are grown here, which are obviously cheap because they are grown here... I am referring to everything else really, from shower gel to dairy products... just daily basics. Of course most times there is an option to go for a local brand, so if that is the case you are in business, but other times it is not so easy. I have only found pesto in 1 delicatessen shop in the whole of Kampala, and of course the price tag reflects the (lack of) availability in this market.

This is obviously a bit more shocking for me than to others probably because of where I am coming from before getting here. Yes, we were coming from London, where it does not matter if you want to get Spanish food, with Spanish labels, it is very widely available. Here though, I have found more Italian than Spanish food, at least let me say thank God for the Italians here, so I get a few exciting products!

The second interesting fact around shopping here is that you DO need to go to ALL supermarkets to complete your shopping list. I know, I know, I am not talking about I like more the cheese from Waitrose than from Tesco... It is literally the case of this product can ONLY be found at Nakumatt or Uchumi, like I have only found white flour for baking bread at Shoprite. Well, it is fun anyway to go around (is it?!), but this takes us on to the next issue...

The third issue is that even when you know that a supermarket has a particular product, sometimes you may come round and it will, invariably, be out of stock. I remember going to Shoprite (again) and not finding up to 4 different items that I needed on the same day. Brrrrr... as Leonardo di Caprio was saying in that movie 'This is Africa!'.

And to Africa they must send the brands that nobody has ever heard of... Were you aware of this 'continent placement', apparently some brands must be produced to be sent only here. There are wines here (I checked the Spanish section at Nakumatt) that I have never, let me repeat that, NEVER heard of in my life... I have still managed to find some decent Chianti (thank God for the Italians, again!) but nothing like very presentable Rioja... probably because it would be even more expensive... South Africa has almost the monopoly of wines here.

But the thing that has topped everything else has been the so-called 'economy pack', and I say so-called because it didn't have anything to do with saving any money! I think Game is the supermarket where I have seen this phenomenon take place more often. I will offer an example, 1 pack of baby wipes (52 pieces) was going for 9,500 Ugandan Schillings, (let me say here too how really expensive are all baby items by the way) whereas the 'economy pack' of the same baby wipes, 2 packs of 52 each, was going for 27,500 Ugandan Schillings!! I couldn't avoid wondering who on earth would want to buy the 'economy pack' and then when discussing this with my husband he was saying that probably there are still people buying them! Incredible... I just think you need to know your maths well to survive in this country... or probably in Africa for that matter ;)

Well, so although people think that we can have a very cheap life in Africa... let me destroy that myth right now, well of course we could, if we were only ever eating sukuma (a local vegetable similar to spinach) and rice 100% of the time... unfortunately we like other things too, and most of the times they are imported or coming in 'non-economic packs'. Now I understand why people go back to UK with empty suitcases, I will be doing the same next time!