Mumias sugar packets on sale at a supermarket. [Photo/the-star]Remember juice-colour? This was a flavored powder drink used to be popular in the mid-nineties among teenagers before it lost its prominence. Many used to call it “Juice Cola” instead of juice colour. Information from Ruambwa sub-location in Budalangi is that residents in this part of the country have resorted back to this powdered drink as they cannot afford sugar and milk to prepare tea due to the recent hike in prices.“The high cost of essential commodities such as sugar has forced me to avoid tea and turn to the flavored powder. I can mix it with water or porridge for my children and we call it a day,” said a widowed mother of five from Bukhoba village. One shopkeeper disclosed that he sells more than a hundred sachets of this drink in a day showing how popular it has become. He say most of his customers use it as substitute for tea.
This flavored drink is packed in sachets and one sachet can be mixed with at least three liters of water which makes it enough for a family of more than five.
The sachets are cheap compared to the current sugar prices. Current inflation has pushed up the cost of living making hard for the common mwananchi to afford basic necessities.