Charcoal Briquettes drying in the sun before packaging

Charcoal briquettes made from agricultural waste and other dry biomass offer an economical solution to the rising costs of cooking fuel in cities.  Briquettes are clean burning and cheaper than traditional wood charcoal.  They also provide an alternative to cutting precious forests for fuel.

ARTI conducted market analysis in June 2012 to gauge how its briquettes compared to traditional wood charcoal in terms of packaging and pricing and we were pleasantly surprised with the findings.  When matched for volume charcoal briquettes proved to  have a greater weight than wood charcoal and the price was still cheaper.  In fact consumers experience at least a 20% savings when switching to charcoal briquettes!  In addition the savings in money, the denser briquettes provide hotter and longer cooking times.

Paint Can: 

Wood Charcoal – 800 grams to 1.2 kilo sold for 1,200 shillings

Briquettes – 1.5 kg sold for 1,200 shillings

Plastic Bag:

Wood Charcoal – 1-1.5kg sold for 1,200 shillings

Briquettes – 2kg sold for 1,200 shillings

10 litre bucket:

Wood Charcoal – 3-4kg sold for 3,000 shillings

Briquettes – 6kg sold for 3,600 shillings

Large Sacs (Gunia):

Wood Charcoal – 50kg sold for 42,000

Briquettes – 50kg sold for 30,000

Charcoal Briquettes measured according to commonly found packaging in the market