How much is Muguka price Per Kilo?

One of the questions that Muguka business consultants get asked a lot is with regard to Muguka price per kilo. This question is sometimes posed by individuals who wish to start muguka business in Kenya. It is also often posed by individual muguka chewers who want to figure out whether or not it would be a better deal for them to buy muguka by the kilo (as opposed to buying it in 50 shillings sachets). There is yet another category of individuals who wish to know how much a kilo of muguka costs – namely individuals who just wish to understand the deeper workings of muguka business.

So, how much does a kilo of muguka cost?

Well, the last time I tried to establish the price of a kilo of muguka in Kenya, I undertook field research. I endeavored to know how much the sachet of muguka that is sold at 50 bob weighs. And in that regard, I soon established that on average, the sachet of muguka that is sold at 50 bob weighs around 50g. Of course, it looks larger – because these are leaves and twigs, but when you objectively weigh it, you tend to find that it is indeed in the 50g range.

Having established at on average, the sachet of muguka that is sold at 50 Kenya shillings weighs around 50gms, we can extrapolate and say that it takes 20 such sachets to make a kilo. So 20 x 50g would tell us that a kilo of muguka should cost around 1,000 kenya shillings. Alternatively, if we treat the 50 shillings per 50g sachet price as a standard, it would mean that a gram of muguka costs 1 shilling. And a kilo has 1,000 grams, doesn’t it? Meaning that a kilo of muguka would cost 1,000 shillings...

If you are buying muguka for resale, you would need to ensure that you buy a kilo at, say, 600 or 500 shillings, so that when you in turn sell the kilo of muguka for 1,000, you are left with some profit. In this sort of business, you need to set aside huge margins – to account for some of the muguka that may go bad (meaning that it has to be discarded), and to account for the difficult customers who will inevitably demand for huge servings of muguka.

If you are buying muguka for personal consumption, then a kilo would probably be too much for you! I mean, unless you are chewing it with friends (four or five), it is difficult to see how you would be able to go through a kilo of muguka individually. You would end up having so much handas that you wouldn’t sleep for a week. Muguka may be a mild stimulant, but if you take too much of it, it can end up overstimulating you.

It is actually amazing how the price of muguka has gone up over the years. I remember in the early 2000s, when muguka from Mbeere and Embu was being introduced into the mainstream market, and you could find the sachet that is today being sold for 50 bob going for as little as 20 bob. But I guess that the vendors first wanted us to get hooked to the leaves, before hiking the prices (which is a common tactic with all vendors of these sorts of merchandise). They first get you hooked through free or very cheap supplies, then once you are hooked, they hike the price and you just have to pay whatever you are asked for in order to maintain the high you are used to.