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Four months of Game Botswana catalogues: the staples that held, and the ones that moved
Game Botswana has run its catalogue in overlapping cycles through winter. We compared the same products across four winter cycles: most staples held, three moved by two pula or less, and the pack sizes rotated more than the prices.
Game BotswanaOur catalogue data holds Game Botswana's cycles through winter. We compared four of them: a cycle that ran 23 April to 6 May, one from 21 May to 24 June, one from 25 June to 22 July, and the current cycle running 23 July to 19 August.
When the same product appears in several of those cycles, we can watch its price move or hold. We did that for the staples, and the pattern is quieter than the flyers suggest, but it is not silent.
The prices that held
The prices that held are the headline. Excella sunflower oil, 2 L, printed at P54.95 in all four cycles.
Great Value sunflower oil, 5 L, held at P125.00. Bokomo white or brown bread flour, 5 kg, held at P67.95, and Snowwhite white bread flour, 12 kg, held at P155.00.
Lucky Star corned meat, 300 g, held at P29.95, and Lucky Star pilchards, 400 g, printed at P29.95 in the May, July and August cycles. White Star super maize meal, 12 kg, printed at P129.00 in the May, July and August cycles, and A1 super maize meal, 12 kg, printed at P125.00 in the May, July and August cycles.
Clover UltraMel full cream milk, 1 L, printed at P21.95 in the June, July and August cycles; it is not in the May cycle at all. The big pantry bundle, White Star or A1 maize meal 12 kg with rice, macaroni, oil, mayonnaise and tomato sauce, printed at P359.00 in every cycle in the comparison.
What moved
Three staples moved, and none by more than two pula. KOO baked beans, 410 g, printed at P11.95 in the May cycle and P13.95 from June onward, a rise of two pula.
White Star super maize meal, 5 kg, printed at P47.95 in May and P47.00 in the June and August cycles. Blue Crystal white or brown sugar, 5 kg, printed at P79.95 in May and P79.00 in June.
Small moves, but real ones, and two of the three went down.
Pack formats: rotation, not inflation
What looks like new pack formats is mostly the catalogue rotating which bag it prints. A1 super maize meal printed at both 5 kg for P59.95 and 12 kg for P125.00 in the May cycle, and the August cycle prints both lines again at the same prices.
Spekko long grain parboiled rice printed at both 5 kg for P67.95 and 10 kg for P129.00 in May; the June cycle printed the 5 kg bag and the July cycle the 10 kg bag. Blue Crystal golden brown sugar, 8 kg, printed at P139.00 in both the May and July cycles.
The bags come and go from the page; the prices barely move.
One price to read twice
In the July cycle, the one that ran to 22 July, KOO baked beans printed at P39.00 on one row and P13.95 on another. A bundle row and a single row for the same product can sit on the same page, so read the printed price carefully.
The P13.95 single-unit row on KOO baked beans is the one the August cycle carries.
The four-cycle read
Reading the four cycles together, Game Botswana kept its staple prices essentially flat through winter: most lines held to the pula, and the three that moved did so by two pula or less. The bigger bags work out cheaper per kilogram than the small ones when they print, so shoppers with storage have had the better end of the winter.
From the catalogues
What this means for your basket: the staples you rely on have held or moved by two pula at most across four cycles, which makes budgeting easier. The per-kilogram win is in the big bags, like the 12 kg maize meal at P129.00 in the current cycle, when you have the storage. When the Game catalogue turns over around 19 August, check the same rows again; four cycles of history say the prices will barely move, and the page layout will move more than the numbers.
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