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

