Sachet-water producers in the country are set to increase the prices of their products on the market this week due to the recent utility and fuel price hikes.
It is expected that the price of sachet water would increase from 20p to 30p per sachet, the President of the Association of Sachet and Packaged Water Producers, Magnus Nunoo, has hinted.
According to Mr Nunoo, the sachet water business had been badly affected since electricity, water and fuel were the key cost components of their operations.
The Public Regulatory Commission (PURC) in December last year increased electricity and water tariffs by 59.2% and 67.2 % respectively, while petroleum products were increased by 27 percent .
“Sadly, the figures that are out and the actual rates that we are being charged are different. The figures out there suggest that there has been an increment of 67.2 percent, but what we pay for bottled water now is 400 percent, and almost 200 percent for sachet water”, Mr Nunoo, who is also Chief Executive Officer of Mobile Water, told the Business and Finacial Times (B&FT) newspaper.
Mr Nunoo said the association would hold a press conference on Tuesday to officially inform the public of their decision, and to appeal for government to do something about the hikes in tariffs.
“We will definitely raise the prices and wait for government’s response, and if it does not heed our call then we will have to adjust prices a second time to reflect the actual price we are being charged as manufacturers,” he was quoted as saying.
He reportedly added that if after the press conference producers did no hear a favourable response from government, there would be a further increase to about 40 or 50p per sachet.
Currently, a bag of water that contains 30 sachets is sold by retailers at ₵3 or ₵3.50, depending on the brand.
This amount is expected to rise to ₵5 per bag after the increment.
Source: Daily Graphic
