Premier Gas GM Andrew Omolo with Marketing Manager Joy Mrima during launch of countrywide expansion in Naivasha/CFM
This will see the opening of new refillable Pima Gas vendor outlets in Naivasha, Athi River, Kitengela and Meru among other towns.
The firm says the expansion programme follows the successful introduction of Pima Gas in Nairobi that has attracted more than 8,000 new Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) users since its launch in February last year.
“Pima Gas is currently available in 54 outlets spread across Nairobi and Thika, with more than 8,000 consumers who have been converted from the exclusive use of biomas and kerosene to the environmentally friendly LPG,” Premier Gas General Manager Andrew Omolo said.
“With this expansion, we are targeting to increase our vendor network to 100 before the end of the year, serving more than 20,000 households,” he added.
Premier Gas pioneered the concept of refilling gas according to consumer spending power with the aim of covering the vast market at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) who have been using kerosene, charcoal and firewood as their source of cooking energy.
LPG penetration in Kenya has remained dismal over the years at only 11percent of the 8.7 million households.
This compares poorly to the use of kerosene at 68 percent and charcoal 17 percent which have myriad negative effects including being a leading cause of deforestation and association with acute respiratory infections that are linked to 100 deaths in Kenya per day.
“Extensive research revealed to us that low income levels, lack of infrastructure and lack of access to information at the BoP were the main hindrances to the use of the cleaner LPG in this segment of the market,” Omolo explained.
Pima Gas consumers can purchase partial refills of gas for as little as Sh50 and Sh200 to fill the 1kg cylinder.
