The Kenya Times: Healthy Choices Scarce and Too Costly in Kenya Stores – ATNi Report
25 March 2026By Jason Ndunyu — Kenya’s rapidly expanding supermarket sector is changing how millions of households access food. However, a new assessment by the Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNi) finds that leading grocery chains are not adequately promoting healthier diets.
ATNi, in its Kenya Retail Assessment, which examined Kenya’s three largest supermarket chains, Naivas, Quickmart, and Carrefour Kenya, concluded that systematic efforts to create healthier food environments remain limited, even as supermarkets gain influence over what millions of households eat.
The evaluation found that nutritious options are often limited, under-promoted, and priced out of reach for many consumers.
Commenting on the affordability gap, ATNi Executive Director Greg Garrett said the findings highlight structural barriers to accessing healthy diets.
According to him, this could mean that healthier food baskets account for more than 64% of the daily per capita income.
“At ATNi, we work at a systems level to create healthier food environments. Retailers are critical. We have provided several ways retailers could demonstrate their commitments to nutrition in Kenya.”
The assessment found that 85% of private-label products sold by major grocery chains are high in fat, sugar, or salt. Healthier food baskets cost nearly two-thirds of the average daily income.
The report found that, based on the companies’ publicly available information, there appears to be minimal recognition of the need to improve nutrition and limited evidence of proactive measures being taken to address it, especially among two of the largest retailers.
“Active efforts to create healthier food environments and improve consumers’ diets are, overall, largely absent among Kenya’s largest grocery retailers. From the companies’ publicly available information, there appears to be minimal recognition of this role and limited evidence of proactive measures being taken to address it, especially amongst two of the largest retailers,” the report states.
Expanding influence in Kenya’s food system
Kenya’s supermarket sector has grown steadily over the past decade. ATNi reports that sales from modern outlets grew at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.2% from 2010 to 2019, with the number of outlets increasing from 102 to 225 and the number of hypermarkets increasing from 9 to 39.