The dirty business of fake spices, cold drinks and other items have flooded the local markets have escalated in Uganda due to their high demand.
In September, there were reports that conmen were packing adulterated Royco Mchuzi mix and had pushed them allover the market, especially the 200gm beef flavour in plastic tins and are still supplying it to busy centers like in Nateete, Wandegeya and Kikubo, downtown Kampala.
FAKE ROYCO
When opened, the fake Royco Mchuzi Mix has a yellowish substance inside and has a strong chocking smell because of the things they add and dirty containers used. If you put it into water, it turns into a golden color but sinks immediately. If you are preparing beef stew, it cannot be thicken.
Because of growing complaints the shopkeepers started bothering to ask the customers whether they want No. 1 or No. 2 of Royco Mchuzi mix, the distributor, Unilever Uganda Ltd has this week re-launched the product with a new orange colour to distinguish the fake and original spices easily.
Pheodor Njoroge, the head of shopper and customer marketing in the regional office based in Nairobi only came to Uganda to sort out the issue after their sales fell substantially. Unilever only got bothered after Uganda National Bureau of Standards’ spokesperson Barbara Kamusiime, last month raised red flags by revealing that for the last two years Ugandans have been deceived and cheated by selling to them fake Royco.
Then, Mr Njoroge and Unilever country director, Peter Muchiri last week rushed to Kampala with a rebranded beef flavor to salvage their market.
The new Royco Mchuzi mix has a tamper proof seal that one should look out for as a code on the lead to check before buying according to Njoroge.
The new mix comes in packs of 5g that cost sh100, 12g – sh200, 55g (sh1,200), four beef cubes for sh400, 70g (sh1,000), 200g sachet (sh2,800) and a tin (sh3500), 500g (sh8,000) and 2kg at sh26,000.
By Stephen Muneza Kagabo Managing Editor & Co-funder
