‘Wele’ prices shoot up

Consumers of cowhide, popularly known as wele, in Accra must be prepared to pay extra to enjoy their delicacy at their favourite food joints.

Visits by The Mirror to a number of eateries in Accra showed that a piece of wele which used to sell at GH¢3 had shot up to between GH¢5 and GH¢25.

Some food vendors who spoke to The Mirror last Tuesday confirmed that the price of wele continued to rise and they have no choice but to review the prices and sizes.

Also known as Kehuro, wele is a delicacy, particularly among consumers of waakye, a Ghanaian dish prepared from rice and beans.

The Mirror observed that almost every waakye stew at the eateries visited contained wele.

Maintain price

Some wele vendors at the Agbogbloshie, Kaneshie, Adabraka, Jamestown and the Accra central markets, however, maintained that the food vendors could maintain their old prices and still make profits.

According to one of the wholesalers of the product at the Agbogbloshie market, Madam Dora Addo, who said she had sold wele for 22 years, “the food vendors buy a piece from us at GH¢10, they cut that piece into two and still sell each at GH¢10”.

She said many importers of the wele were based in Kumasi. Madam Addo said they brought unprocessed cowhides from Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Brazil to sell in Accra.

She said the wele market was very attractive in Kumasi and so for 10 days now the wele price had changed, “l usually buy a full piece for GH¢80 from the importers but now it is sold between GH¢130 and GH¢150.”

Madam Addo said the importers told them (the wele sellers in Accra) that the fluctuation in the exchange rate coupled with high import duty had affected the business.

She said though these were legitimate reasons for the high cost of wele on the market, food vendors could still maintain their old price and sizes of wele but many were just taking advantage of the situation to short-change consumers.

Another wholesaler at Kaneshie who had sold wele for eight years, Madam Beatrice Quaye, said: “Food vendors just want to take the cost of pepper, tomatoes and onions all from the sale of wele.”

“I know some sell a piece of wele at GH¢10, meanwhile we sell enough pieces to them at GH¢10,” she added.

She said the quantity she usually bought at GH¢400 was now GH¢650.

Family venture

The Mirror also observed that the wele business had become a family venture for many and some young people were taking over the shops of their parents to help with the sales.

Another wele vendor at Agbogbloshie, who gave her name as only Mariama, said her great grandmother sold wele and handed it over to her grandmother who has now given the business to her mother.

Currently, Mariama who said she had been in the market for 17 years also took over from her mother.

She also lamented the new price of the product and said it had affected their sales.

She said the quantity she bought for her business at GH¢280 was now sold at GH¢350.

Kumasi wele

She also told The Mirror that the wele from Kumasi was well preserved and therefore she preferred buying from the Kumasi importers as against those who processed wele in Accra.

Mariama said the ones made in Accra could go bad in a few days due to its extremely soft nature.

She advised wele processors to adopt good practices that would make their products last long and maintain taste.

Accra wele processors

At the Jamestown wele processors market last Sunday, large quantities of cooked wele had been placed on the floor with flies feasting on them.

There was also a pond where wele was kept to prevent it from going bad.

A wele processor, Nas Tee, told The Mirror that the concerns about wele processed in Accra had to do with how they were cooked.

“One must properly time the cooking. You must pay attention very well or it will become extremely soft for the market women. Which will make it go bad in few days. You must ensure that the state of the fire is under control so it will be well cooked. Also, it has to be turned while cooking,” Nas Tee explained.

He said he imported his cowhides from Brazil, adding that one needed GH¢100,000 to do the business which he described as quite profitable.

According to him, “you can make GH¢20,000 profits on 400 pieces of cowhides.”

He described the sale of cowhide as his “side business” and said “I started this, even before l joined the Ghana National Fire Service.”

Poor source of protein

When contacted, a dietician at the LETS Consult Ltd, Mr Wise Chukwudi Letsa, said although wele contained protein, the protein was very low in essential amino acids.

He said that made it a poor source of protein.

“It should not be consumed as the sole source of protein in a meal. I will not advise families to use wele as their go to protein because there are better options,” he advised.

He indicated that wele lovers should be more concerned with the way it was handled and prepared.

That, he said, was unhealthy and posed a great danger to the health of consumers.

Writer’s email address: lydiaezit@gmail.com