The changing breakfast table

On a rich man’s breakfast table, there will be small plates and bowls of bacon, sausages or smokies, salmon, pancakes, brawn, cornflakes, Weetabix, mushrooms, eggs cooked in different ways, bread, croissants, fresh or boxed juice, tea, milk among other items.

Then add traditional foods such as arrowroots or sweet potatoes for the father or any family member with lifestyle disease.

In some Kenyan homes, breakfast has been a feast but as prices of food items rise, not anymore.

Bad weather and supply problems have pushed up prices of ingredients used to make breakfast items that some families have stopped serving or reduced what they use to serve or relegated them to special days, just like the non-wealthy do.

Upper-class eating which comes with high spending budgets and elegant, expensive tableware set-ups has been evidence of wealth, taste, and power. Some families set aside budgets.

Others do not even know the price of bread, but the cost of living has made them notice bread and lactose-free milk as items on the shopping list.

Children’s favourites

A 47-year-old middle-level manager, for instance, who has never known the price of milk or cigarette says he has been forced to refer back to his monthly receipts to ensure that his personal shopper is not stealing from him.

He would give his shopper Sh42,000 to buy household stuff and a few food items for the month. Then the father-of-two would add meats and eggs, a separate budget. He picks chicken and eggs from a seller in Kiambu, a goat from another seller, then he buys beef from a butchery in Nairobi that sells meat from only grass-fed cattle reared in Ol Pejeta grasslands.

Last month, his shopper asked for additional money, just for him to realise that food prices have gone up.

He is not alone. Jackline Ngatia, a mother-of-three, says the new reality of having to adjust to the increased food prices has been nothing but short of frustrating as she has had to tone down her spending for both breakfast and dinner.

“My husband and I had to sit down and re-evaluate our food budget, as before we were comfortably taking things off supermarket shelves without being too keen on the prices. With the high cost of living since the dawn of Covid, we have had to make so many drastic changes not just in the way we dine but also how we spend money,” she says.

Being a family of five, she says, means the meals have to be in plenty, more so breakfast and dinner, because at lunch they eat leftovers.

“Nowadays, I’m a bit constricted. Before we would eat bacon, eggs, cereal, bread, mahamri and tea, milk, juice and porridge because of the young ones. Now I serve my family bread, eggs, cereal, sometimes pancakes and tea and/or milk for breakfast. But porridge is a must,” she says.

The change in the way her family dines now has not been an easy adjustment, especially for the children.

“My children were used to eating quite a lot of goodies so telling them that things have changed and they have to eat what’s available is tricky. Having children means you’ll buy peanut butter, jam, margarine and Nutella {a brand of sweetened hazelnut cocoa spread} . Now we’ve had to buy maybe two at a go. Perhaps margarine and Nutella one time, then the other time I substitute with peanut butter and jam,” she says.

“One thing I know I’m unlikely to substitute, however, is cereal. My children are obsessed with Choco Ballz and I doubt they can say they have had breakfast without them. I would rather cut out bread or eggs but not cereal because my eldest child, five years old, doesn’t like bread. When I go shopping, the first thing I put in my shopping cart are boxes of cereal,” she adds.

No compromise

Middle-class parents have been faced with difficulty in the past few months when it comes to deciding what meals to serve their families without going out of budget, while still considering the key factor of healthy and nutritious dishes.

For some though, the food budget cannot be compromised and they give their children what they could not afford to eat when growing up in villages, and that if one is to cut down on spending, it will be other lifestyle changes such as reducing on bar or salon visits.

Maureen Burudi, 32, is a single mother of two boys. She argues that in as much as the cost of living has gone up, her boys matter the most to her and that providing them with the best of everything is what she works hard for every day.

However, she has made a few changes to her breakfast menu, at least until prices go down.

“Having boys in itself just automatically translates to eating a lot. Boys have quite an appetite. Things got a bit tricky for me after Covid struck. As a single mum, I know I always have to step up to ensure my boys live well. Breakfast being the most important meal of the day, I previously would serve sausages, bacon, bread or mandazi, eggs, tea and/or milk/juice,” she says.

“I haven’t entirely made a big change to the breakfast menu, just more of changing the meals timetable in that there are specific days we eat specific types of food. This way I have found it much easier to feed the boys good food and still not run my pockets dry.”

For instance, on Mondays, she serves them bacon and eggs, with French toast and tea, and cereal. The boys usually prefer corn flakes.

“Then Tuesday I switch it up and serve them sausages, mandazi, eggs, and tea. What I know can’t be lacking most of the time is eggs. They love eggs. So technically I serve them almost the same, but when things get a bit tighter, I have to weigh the options.”

As consumers switch away from traditional breakfasts towards more practical, cheaper products, there are some Kenyans who say they are unaffected significantly because they buy from wholesalers, individual farmers, or faraway retailers.

Francis Kamau, a bachelor in Nairobi says he has managed to navigate quite fluidly because he buys from suppliers and specific shops.

“My favourite meal of the day is breakfast because I eat as much as I want; coffee, muffins, and sausages on one day, and arrowroots, tea, and ham on one another day. As long as you know where to shop you can still enjoy your favourite food. Like ham, I buy it in bulk, including sausages which I buy from a wholesaler,” he says.

No bread

Problems in producing wheat have collided with higher demand and growers in key producing regions such as Ukraine and Russia, now in war, are unable to harvest and replant. This means that the cost of food commodities that make up a typical breakfast will keep soaring to its highest point in years.

Oat prices had already doubled last year after a severe drought in Canada wiped out almost half of its crop.

This means that bread and pastries will soon be a luxury in many low-income homes, followed with pork products such as sausages, bacon and ham as Kenyan farmers abandon rearing because animal feeds are too expensive.

The price of a one-kilogramme-pack of smokies has gone up to Sh430 from about Sh370. Bread spread such as marmalade has also soared to Sh209 from Sh85 a few months ago.

Those with special dietary needs have not been spared. Lactose-free and fat-free milk prices have doubled in the last few weeks that many are turning to black tea.

Njoki Maina, a resident in Nyeri County, says she has had to stop buying bread for breakfast and replace it with leftover food from supper, to save on cost. It is also more filling compared to bread.

“The cost of living has been shooting up, yet the disposable income is the same. This means I have to balance; ensure my family does not lack the basic needs,” she said, adding that she is mulling starting using public vehicles to work rather than drive due to the high cost of fuel.

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