Last week during our rounds we noticed something strange: shops with mealie-meal were “refusing” to sell it. There seemed to be some sort of speculative behaviour going on.

When we went in Gain Cash and Carry Mbare and wanted to know the price of Parlenta were told someone had already bought the entire lot. Never mind the fact that we were staring at over 200 sacks of Parlenta!

We wonder what was going on and now we know:

GMAZ
ADVISORY NOTE
To: Mr. T. Msarara, National Chairman
From: GMAZ Secretariat
Date: 23 November 2019
Ref: ADV004 SUBJECT: COMPUTATION ON PRODUCTION OF ROLLER MEAL
The Government of Zimbabwe has with immediate effect removed subsidies on grain, resulting to the price of GMB maize to ZWL 4,000.00/MT.
ROLLER MEAL
In light of the above price movement, the price of roller meal shall be circa RTGS 89.96 per 10 kg bag.
The traditional margin for miller poses to retailers is 13%, thus giving a retail pose of circa RTGS 101.66 per 10 kg bag
Please find attached. comprehensive costing schedules.
Please note that each Miller is free to charge according to their cost structures.
Yours Sincerely,
GMAZ- Secretariat
Alleged letter from GMAZ

It seems retailers were anticipating a price hike and wanted to take advantage of their old stock to make a quick buck. Soon, therefore, you will be paying over a $100 for 10kg of maize thanks to the 2020 budget.