[Stoves] The price of bottled gas

[Philip Lloyd]

Paul Oliver commented " The price of bottled gas is a huge problem
throughout most of the
developing world."

Part of the problem is poor models of distribution.  Locally, we are seeing
the entry of a supplier who a) has found a way of filling 5kg bottles
rapidly at a central plant and b) distributing them directly to the retailer
at minimal cost, with a growing chain of retailers chosen so that the
householder can resupply within 500m.  The net result is a halving of the
street price of bottle gas, and it is now the cheapest way to cook.

The advantage of filling at a central plant is that safety is greatly
enhanced; and the discovery of a way of filling small cylinders rapidly
means high throughput and low costs.  Most big bottlers of gas don't like
the really small cylinders because they couldn't fill them rapidly enough to
get throughput - it was cheaper (and far less safe) to refill them at the
retailers.

Regards to all