Just like Uchumi, Nakumatt now chipping away piece by piece

Nakumatt Supermarket. (Photo: Courtesy)

For a supermarket which prided in marketing itself as the only retailer that had everything on its shelves through the 'You need it, we've got it' slogan,' it's increasing empty shelves and disappearance of major brands such as Uniliver's has set it up for tough times ahead.

A consignment of canned beef from Britain arrived at the port of Mombasa aboard the MV Anna Maria in September 1996. The beef, imported by one of Kenya's most successful homegrown retail chains, Nakumatt Holdings, was declared to have been contaminated with mad cow disease. Mad cow disease is linked to some fatal brain disorder, which was a major scare at the time.