Accra, Ghana// – While the cost of Ga kenkey to consumers in Accra has been rising over the last year in line with national food inflation, new research by The Kenkey Index unwraps the dynamics of kenkey prices and shows early signs of ease on the squeeze to kenkey lovers.
What is the price of kenkey? GH¢2? GH¢3? GH¢4? Now, kenkey even sells at GH¢5. But how does the five-cedi kenkey of today compare with the two-cedi kenkey of last year? How does Kenkey in Kaneshie compare with Kenkey in Cantonments?
How does Ga kenkey compare with, say, Fante kenkey? How heavy is the heaviest ball around? What does the price of Kenkey say about inflation? Or, more accurately, shrinkflation?
Since August 2022, The Kenkey Index has been tracking the pricing of Ga Kenkey around Accra to make sense of all these balls in the air for public consumption.
Yes, kenkey is shrinking in size even as the price per ball too is inching up.
From the shrinkflation perspective, the weight of Kenkey (at a given price) has shrunk by 32 per cent year on year.
For inflation, the price of kenkey (at a given weight) is up 51.8 per cent (right in line with the Ghana Statistical Service’s most current national food inflation of 51.9 per cent).
Prices on the market now range from GH¢2 to GH¢5, but the most common price is GH¢4, up from GH¢3 one year ago. Kenkey equivalent to the weight of a sachet of water would now cost, on average, GH¢4.69, up from GH¢3.09 a year ago.
The five-cedi kenkey entered the market around April while the two-cedi kenkey is disappearing. As of August, we could find Kenkey at GH¢2 only in Chorkor, La, and Teshie. Those areas also tend to have the best-value kenkey in terms of weight at any given price.
Whereas prices have risen all around, the weight of kenkey in one location is sometimes more than twice the weight in another—at the same price.
The heaviest ball of kenkey was in Ablekuma at 739 grams – significantly heavier than a big bottle of beer.
Despite the general upward trend in price over the last year, prices dropped suddenly by 5.4 per cent between July and August. One experienced kenkey seller considers the reversal a seasonal blip from the maize harvest period and entry into the market of seasonal kenkey sellers.
