Ugali tops the list of primary foods consumed in Kenya by most households. However, every homestead or individuals prefers to have their Ugali cooked using flour from different maize millers of their choice.
A section of the public has claimed that Ugali from given millers tastes better others while others argued that's it all settled on the cook.
Pulse Live Kenya set out on a journey to find out which was the best Unga among Kenyans through different polls.
Pulse Live selected four top brands in the market and allowed Kenyans to vote for their favorite Unga in a poll that attracted more than 2, 500 people who gave reasons as to why they preferred certain brands.
The brands were Pembe, Soko maize meal, Jogoo and Ndovu. In the numerous responses received, it was very evident that Jogoo stood out with most respondents saying that it was their favorite choice of flour whenever they wanted to cook Ugali.
High preference
Second was Soko maize meal which also had a good number of people drumming support for it as their most preferred maize flour. Respondents said the two (Jogoo and Soko) produced the sweetest and nutritious ugali.
Interestingly, Tetema, a new brand that has recently entered the maize meal market (not in the poll) received a number of endorsements from the people garnering more votes than Ndovu and Pembe, brands that have been on the market for years.
Facebook Poll
“Ugali ni mapishi sio unga! Unaeza kua na unga ya high quality but usipoipea moto enough alafu unaitoa after five minutes, hio ni balaa,” said one of the respondents.
Ndovu and Pembe came in at a distant third and fourth respectively.
Other maize flour brands also featured in the question put out by Pulse Live Kenya, with several people saying that their favorite brands were not included in the poll. These brands included Dola, Maycon, Hostess, Taifa, Kifaru, Cosmo, Amaize, Raha Premium and Jembe among others.
Interestingly, some netizens stated that they preferred 'unga ya Kusiaga' on grounds that it was the most nutritious.
History dictates
History dictates that before the colonial occupation, staple diets among Kenyan ethnic groups were dominated by tubers, millet, sorghum, legumes and traditional vegetables.
Instagram poll
The introduction of the hammer mill and posho mill, in the late 1920s boosted the production of maize and maize flour.