A CRITICAL shortage of mealie meal has hit Eastern Province, mainly in Nyimba, Petauke and Katete, forcing retailers to increase the price by as much as K100 on a 25kg bag of breakfast. The main distributors of the staple in the said districts have run out of the commodity, leaving stock-holding dealers to exploit the market. In Petauke, Choppies Supermarket ran out of stock almost a week ago following the suspension of production and distribution by suppliers during the festive holidays. “We don’t have mealie meal and we also don’t know when the next stock will arrive. It has been like this for [a number of] days here. The problem is that National Milling is not able to supply here...