Load Shedding: Cold Store Operators Increase Frozen Food Prices

Cold store operators in the Kumasi metropolis say the ongoing load shedding is taking a toll on their business compelling them to increase their prices in order to break even. Cold store operators at the Asafo Market who spoke to Ultimate Radio, say they are compelled to increase the prices because they have to find other expensive alternative power sources for their highly power demanding business. Cold store operators at the Asafo Market, whose activities largely depend on electricity, told Ultimate Radio, they are forced to spend huge sums of money to power newly purchased or hired generators for their operations hence the need to increase the cost of their products. Explaining their worries to Ultimate Radio�s Nana Oye Diabene, one trader lamented �For the past three to four days, we haven�t had enough power supply and it is destroying all our fridges and other equipment and it is costing us a lot of money. We are wasting a lot of money on generators and petrol and because of that; we have increased the prices of fish�. He noted for instance that a box of salmon which cost an amount of GHc178 two days ago now goes for GHc180 and the prices are likely to further shoot up in the coming days. Another trader who endorsed the increases said, �The fluctuations are damaging our freezers and it costs us a lot to fix them. When we go for a generator, we have to buy fuel and so we have no choice than to increase the prices of our products to make up for the losses�.