Depending on individual user’s preferences, vegetable oil is used in large or small quantities to prepare meals like jollof rice, fried meat, fish, yam, plantain or eggs, among other delicacies. However, with the advent of innovations, electric air fryers came in as a disrupter, although it was highly disregarded by many because of the affordability of vegetable oil. But now, Economy&Lifestyle findings have revealed that many Nigerians are now embracing air fryers as alternatives, following the high cost of vegetable oil.
A visit to various food markets in Lagos State showed that the price of a 5-litre vegetable oil, which sold for N2,100, depending on the brand, as at 2018 before Covid-19 era, now sells for N22,000.
The price of the 25-litre keg, which was N9,500, now sells for between N95,000 to N105,000.
Mrs. Chinenye Anyadike, a business woman, said she had to get a second hand 3.5-litre air fryer for N18,000 to cut the cost of buying expensive vegetable oil.
She said: “Every home now has an air fryer. Gone are the days when a woman will be battling to buy vegetable oil, which price is always increasing in the market.
“Imagine buying 10 litres of vegetable oil at N49,000 and you will consume it in less than three months.
“Again the market women are not helping matters too. Some of them just add money to the oil they have in store, telling you that the prices have gone up from the suppliers. “In Nigeria now, you need to be wise to survive.”
Mrs. Fatimah Arogundade, a banker, said: “I was complaining about the high cost of vegetable oil recently when a friend informed me that I was wasting my money buying it. “She told me to get an air fryer. When I googled the price it was N45,000 upwards depending on the size and brand.
“At first, I thought buying it was not a good idea, until I heard a colleague discussing it.
“So I purchased it and that was the best decision I made this festive season.
“It was useful because I even got oil from the beef I air fried.
“Many women are keying into it seriously to cut the cost of using vegetable oil to fry meat, fish and what have you.” Mr. Kolade Adepegba, a commercial driver, said he had to buy a fairly used air fryer for his wife when she complained about the high price of vegetable oil which was taking a toll on food expenses.
“I was with a friend after the day’s work when a woman came to deliver two air fryers to his wife.
“I asked her and she said, ‘Oga this is what every woman is using to fry things now. Do you know what the price of vegetable oil is in the market now?’
“I bargained the price and she taught me how to use it. I ended up buying one for my wife.
“When she saw the air fryer, she was very happy and disclosed to me how she had been saving to buy one.”
Economy&Lifestyle‘s visit to some electronic kitchen gadget stores revealed that the price of air fryer is rising, due to the high demand of the facility, recently.
The price of a 3.5-litre air fryer, depending on the brand, ranges from N45,000 to N55,000.
That of 5 litres upwards is between N65,000 to N350,000.
However, the cost of a fairly used one, again depending on the litres capacity, ranges between N15,000 to N40,000.
Source:https://www.vanguardngr.com/2024/12/nigerians-go-for-air-fryers-as-cost-of-vegetable-oil-soars/
