This post is a look into Mumias sugar a once iconic brand to see if it is still respectable years later after coming back to the market
When it comes to sugar, just get the cheapest option. Seriously, it’s all the same—just 100% cane sugar and nothing more. If every brand uses the exact same ingredient, it’s basically the same thing with different labels, right? Exactly.
So, there’s really no point in paying extra for a fancy name brand—unless, of course, you think it somehow tastes sweeter than the others. That’s the only reason you should pick one sugar over another!
Mumias used to be the best sugar brand, and if you had it at home, it was a bit of a status symbol—it meant you were doing well financially. Sure, it was pricier than other brands, but it was also noticeably sweeter, so the premium price kind of made sense.
That was in the early 2000s, Mumias was the premium sugar brand, but fast forward 20+ years, and things have changed. After a long shutdown due to major mismanagement issues, Mumias has made a comeback, with its iconic product returning to shelves after over a decade of being MIA.
In the meantime, though, Kabras took over and is now Kenya’s most popular and beloved sugar brand. Even with Mumias back, it just can’t quite hold a candle to Kabras, which has firmly established itself as the top choice.
Spotting Mumias on the Shelves
On my last mini grocery run, something familiar caught my eye—the iconic green and blue stripes of Mumias! It’d been ages since I’d seen those. I didn’t even need sugar, but I grabbed it purely for the nostalgia. Then I noticed the price tag: while most brands were around KSh 125 per kg, Mumias was boldly sitting at KSh 155 for the exact same thing!
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So, I brought Mumias home, hyped up and fully expecting it to out-sweeten the budget brand already in my pantry. To put it to the test, I made two cups of my favorite tea, using the same 2 teaspoons of each sugar. After a good stir, I took a sip of each… and surprise, surprise!
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Testing the Sweetness: Mumias vs. Generic Sugar
At first, I thought I was imagining it, but turns out the generic sugar tasted sweeter than Mumias—the brand that’s always been hyped as Kenya’s sweetest sugar! I couldn’t believe it, so I repeated the experiment over the next couple of days, and finally had to accept what I wasn’t ready for: Mumias just isn’t as sweet as the budget sugar.
Is Premium Sugar Worth It?
So, if that’s the case, is there any point in buying a premium sugar brand? Realistically, the main reason you’d choose one sugar over another is sweetness. A sweeter sugar means you can use less of it, while a less sweet one means adding more teaspoons to hit that perfect level.
It makes sense that cheaper sugar brands might be a bit less sweet since you’d end up using more anyway. But here, it’s the opposite: with Mumias, I found I needed 3 teaspoons to match the sweetness of just 2 teaspoons of the generic brand. Given that Mumias costs more and you end up using more of it, it doesn’t really add up.
The Verdict: Mumias Isn’t Worth the Extra Cost
So, in my opinion, Mumias just isn’t worth the extra 15-20% markup. Kabras might be a better choice if you want a premium sugar that’s actually sweet and costs a bit less. Otherwise, go for the cheapest or whichever tastes sweetest to you—Mumias is really just charging for the nostalgia factor at this point. Not recommended.
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