No more free pepper soon — Ga kenkey sellers
Patrons of Ga kenkey in Accra must brace themselves for extra expenditure if they want to continue enjoying their delicacy.
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This is because some sellers of the kenkey are contemplating reviewing their operational cost to meet the continuous increase in prices on the market of ingredients used for the food.
A visit to some known Ga Kenkey joints within the Accra metropolis in areas such as Adabraka, Osu, Tudu and Jamestown last Wednesday revealed that they bought a bag of pepper for GH¢800 and as a result, many of the kenkey sellers are considering factoring the cost of the pepper, onion and tomatoes into their production cost.
The effect of their decision is that the ground pepper with slices of onions and tomatoes that complement the kenkey would no longer be served free.
Kenkey (also known as kɔmi, otim or nkran dorkunu) has been patronised for years as one of the staple dishes enjoyed by many from all walks of life, especially the Gas, due to its affordability and accessibility.
It is usually sold with pepper sauce and fried fish.
More sophisticated joints sell with avocados, shrimps and fried eggs.
Some of the Ga kenkey sellers in an interview with The Mirror last Wednesday said “pepper has become expensive and very soon we will start selling it.
It will not be free.
Accra kenkey that used to be a meal for the poor is now expensive.
If you want to enjoy a proper kenkey meal, you must have about GH¢50 because fish has also become expensive and a bag of pepper alone is now GH¢800”.
At the Kenkey Boutique Company Ltd at Adabraka, the seller who gave her name as Hajia lamented about the cost of ingredients explaining that she was unable to serve her clients with as much pepper as they desired even though she knew that the quantity she served was inadequate.
She said there were customers who wanted to buy only kenkey with plenty ground pepper without fish but that was not possible.
“Some people may only have GH¢10 and would want maybe two balls with just pepper and there are those who may only have GH¢5 but we use the fish to sell the kenkey.
They opt for only kenkey because fish is expensive.
The least is GH¢10 and very soon the pepper will also not be free,” she explained.
Hajia explained that in 2017, she had many customers but since the price of kenkey increased from GH¢2 to GH¢3 and now GH¢5, it had affected sales, “now we don’t get customers like before. Can’t you see here has been very quiet?” she asked.
