Milk ‘ATM’ dispensers face higher costs as the government moves to outlaw use of one-off plastic paper bags starting Monday.
A survey in Nairobi — which accounts for 62 per cent of the 275 dispensers installed within commercial centres — showed many dealers, who had stocked plastic bottles, had put up reminders for shoppers to carry their own containers.
The commodity sold from a vending machine sells at Sh65 a litre compared to Sh50 for half litre of packaged milk.
The ban seeks to reduce the proliferation of plastic paper waste blamed for premature livestock deaths and pollution of the environment. Traders operating dispensers pay a Sh600 licence fee to Kenya Dairy Board (KDB).
Kenya has 25 registered milk processors with the main ones being Brookside, New KCC and Githunguri Dairies.
Commercial milk dispensers continue to gain popularity, especially after the KDB put in place strict safety regulations.
The rules require all milk to be pasteurised (heated) as well as operators to undergo medical examination to certify that they are fit to handle food products.
The regulations that came into effect in June, outlawed sale of raw milk and stipulated that the commodity could only stay in the dispenser for less than 24 hours from the date of delivery.
Kenya’s milk processing capacity has increased from 2.9 million litres a day to 3.5 million litres but the sale of raw milk dominates. The dairy sector contributes 14 per cent of the agricultural sector’s gross domestic product.
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