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Veronica Gwaze
ALICE MUSHUNJE, an avid shopper and bargain hunter, is a troubled soul.
After her last two shopping outings, she has been grumbling about shrinking sizes of some of her must-have products on the shopping list.
Recently, she tossed a 2-kilogramme (kg) pack of sugar and a 20kg bag of maize meal into her shopping trolley. What surprised her, though, was that the products felt lighter than usual.
At home, driven by curiosity, she grabbed the pack of sugar and weighed it on her kitchen scale. She did the same with the bag of maize meal and the results left slack-jawed.
Both products fell short of the advertised weight.
The sugar weighed around 1,7kg, while the maize meal was close to 3kg short of the marked weight.
While this was the first time she had decided to weigh the products, she had over the past month or so been complaining about the diminishing sizes of some products.
Bags of her favourite chips, she said, now seem perpetually half-full while a loaf of bread is now light as a feather.
The same can be said about a popular pie brand that now has more air covered by pastry, instead of meat.
Agony
The mother of two feels cheated and is frustrated.
“This is daylight robbery. I started noticing that something was wrong with some of the products I was buying in local supermarkets. The package remains the same but the contents are shrinking. I got the shock of my life when I decided to weigh some of the products,” said Mushunje.
She is now in the habit of weighing most of the products she buys, and the results, she said, have been disheartening most of the time.
“I have tried to get answers at some of the retail outlets but I end up being directed from one office to another to no avail. It seems there is no recourse for this fraud. The sad thing is that I am getting the products from established retail outlets (names withheld),” she said.
Mushunje is not the only one who has found herself in this predicament; several consumers have been raising similar concerns.
Apparently, there are allegations that some retailers and manufacturers are stealing from consumers through “slack fill” — underweight packages designed to mislead the customer.
The idea is premised on reducing content portions while maintaining the same price, hoping consumers will not notice.
As part of our investigations into the allegations, The Sunday Mail Society bought three 2kg packets of a particular brand of rice from an established retail outlet operating in the Harare central business district (CBD).
The packets were weighed on different scales and they all fell short of the advertised weight.
Of the three packets of rice, the highest weight was 1,87kg, while the lowest was 1,69kg.
Another retail outlet within the CBD sold a certain brand of maize meal that was advertised as weighing 10kg. However, upon weighing it, we discovered that it fell short by 1kg.
The Consumer Protection Commission (CPC), in a joint blitz with inspectors from the Trade Measures Department and the police’s licence inspectorate, recently unearthed some unscrupulous practices by manufacturers, retailers and filling stations.
Some culprits were nabbed in the cement sector, where traders were underweighting the 50kg bag by close to 15kg.
Blame
Retailers and manufacturers are trading blame over the shady practice.
Retailers argue they sell the products as delivered but some manufactures claim black market traders and some unscrupulous retailers are “tampering” with goods before selling them to consumers.
The most affected products include soya mince, sugar, kapenta, maize meal and rice.
Others get bulk goods from wholesalers or supermarkets and repack them into smaller branded packages for resale on the black market.
This is often done without the consent of the particular brand owners.
“I used to buy stuff in bulk, 50kg packs, open them up and repack into smaller packages . . . At first I tried to pack according to the advertised weight but greed got the better of me along the way. I started reducing the quantities, which later led to my arrest,” said Wellington Pakai, who was nabbed during a crackdown last year.
He sold an assortment of products.
A Glen View grocery retailer, who only identified himself as Jerry, also talked about his operations.
“I buy bulk rice, sugar and cooking oil and then repackage it into smaller quantities for resale. But the truth is we never measure the products for accuracy. I simply trust my judgement,” said Jerry.
But others feel the compromised procurement channels of some retail outlets has led to this predicament.
It is now not unusual for established retail outlets to secure commodities from individuals, mostly unlicensed ones, and without following due tender processes.
Arrested
The authorities have taken note of consumers’ concerns and instituted investigations.
Harare provincial police spokesperson Inspector Luckmore Chakanza said they are currently involved in joint operations with relevant stakeholders to bring the culprits to book.
“As law enforcers, we are ready to take action against these criminals. Some of the culprits are known in communities, which, therefore, calls for collective effort from consumers for us to effectively deal with the menace.”
According to the police, those arrested for defrauding consumers are charged and made liable to a fine not exceeding level six or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year; or to both fine and imprisonment.
Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) reports that more than 32 retailers have since been arrested for criminal business practices linked to manipulating products.
“We are aware of what is happening with regard to slack fill and we have been acting on cases as they come. However, a good number of the cases are still under investigation; therefore, we will share more details once the investigations are concluded,” Zacc told The Sunday Mail Society.
Players in the petroleum and gas sector have also been accused of manipulating their machines in a bid to steal from unsuspecting clients.
According to the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) (Chapter 14:44) Section 31 (2) (a), it is a crime to sell products whose labels and trade descriptions are manipulated to mislead consumers.
“We are aware of businesses short-changing consumers through deceptive tendencies arising from unscrupulous behaviours like use of measuring instruments that have not been certified by the Trade Measures Inspectorate,” said CPC public relations officer Kudakwashe Mudereri.
“Some of their measuring instruments are tampered with or manipulated, for example, in butcheries, at filling stations, et cetera. However, we are working around the clock to make sure the culprits are brought to book.”
Those who have been arrested so far have since been taken to the courts.
Sporadic and random checks on commodities, particularly basic ones, are now being carried out.
“We noted that while a standard loaf of bread is supposed to weigh between 350 grammes and 700 grammes, some bakeries are being found selling bread not conforming to the statutory mass, hence they are being prosecuted,” said the CPC official.
Mudereri further said the commission is also seized with cases where some retailers are cheating consumers in violation of Section 26 of the CPA.
The Act requires the price of goods to be displayed on the shelf and that it should be the same as the one charged at the till point.
There are instances where the US dollar price is altered when a customer opts to pay in the local currency.
“Those found violating these sections face prosecution . . .”
Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers president Denford Mutashu said it is a crime for retailers to sell underweight goods to consumers. The organisation, jointly with the Consumer Protection Commission and the police, periodically inspect retail stores to ensure that their goods meet all the required standards.
“Selling underweight goods is a criminal activity that can lead to jail. We note that most of these illegal activities are happening in areas like Epworth, Mufakose and Highfield,” said Mutashu.
“Retailers should procure their goods from reputable suppliers for a traceable record in case something is not right with the products. Consumers should also not buy goods from the black market.”
Mutashu said it is the responsibility of the retailer to ensure that goods meet the required standards.
“Consumers also need to know that they have the right to report whenever they come across such cases,” he added.
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