Groceries in Finland
Metric conversions: Weight, Volume, Oven temperatures for US / Imperial recipes!
Introduction
Groceries constitute a regular and significant outlay of funds. One aim of this page is to help you save you a few euros on your grocery bill. It's not about gourmet cooking, and dedicated 'foodies' may disagree with my suggestions - some of which are based on my own experiences and opinions.
Supermarkets
Most people, for convenience and economy, do their food shopping at one of the big supermarket chains. The major players are the Kesko Corporation and S-Group, with Lidl also competing in the market. In the food retailing sector, Kesko owns K-Market, K-Citymarket, K-Extra and K-Supermarket. S-Group has Sale, Alepa, Prisma and S-Market. Lidl is Lidl!
These supermarkets range from small convenience stores to huge hypermarkets designed to provide customers with a one-stop retail outlet for all their needs. The biggest markets are often located on the fringes of large towns and cities, whereas 'urban' supermarkets can be rather small with a limited selection. So, living close to the town centre does not guarantee the biggest choice of groceries, although there may be more specialised shops such as butchers and greengrocers available in the vicinity.
Saving Money on Groceries
Use the Discount Stores
The 'discount stores' include Lidl, Sale, Alepa and K-Market.
- Lidl has consistently low prices; many studies over the last 5 years have found Lidl to be the cheapest way to buy groceries in Finland, even without loyalty program benefits. Lidl imports a lot of low-priced gourmet foods from Europe; they don't offer so many familiar brands, nor is their range consistent, so if you're not feeling lucky Lidl might not be for you! Also, there are still comparatively few Lidls in Finland; so you may not have one nearby. My own experiences with Lidl products have been good.
- My local grocery stores are Sale and K-Market. Sale is consistently 5-10% cheaper than K-Market but that's not a 'hard and fast' rule; prices do vary between stores in the same chain - apart from advertised sales, which are 'chain-wide'.
- Get to know your local stores; with a little picking and choosing you'll eventually have a bunch of favourite regular products at good prices.
Check the Specials
In some countries it seems everything in every shop is advertised every day as "On Sale", but the prices never change. Finnish sales aren't like that; the weekly specials usually involve a discount of 20-30% or more. Buy double and put one in the freezer! You may, however, need a loyalty card to take advantage of advertised specials.
Check for Impending 'Sell By' Dates
Groceries with an impending 'best before' date are usually offered at 30-50% off, sometimes as much as 70%. You'll notice the orange labels on the products. Big savings, particularly if you're in a shop which is already reasonably priced.
Sign up for the Loyalty Program
The Loyalty Cards page is all about signing up for Kesko's K-Plussa and/or S-Group's S-Etukortti, which can save you money in various ways. For example, sale items in some supermarkets are only available to cardholders; otherwise you pay the normal price. Even when buying regular-priced groceries, it's good to be a cardholder because you will add to your 'total monthly spend', or similar, and later receive some benefit such as cash vouchers in return.
Try 'Own Brand' Products
The big chains each market their 'own brand' labels, as well as branded products. Kesko's include Pirkka and Euro Shopper, and S-Group's is Rainbow. The products are usually as much as 25% less than the 'big' brand names. I'm no expert on food OR shopping, but my experience over many years is:
- Every Pirkka product I've tried has been from fine to excellent. They are good quality and easily on a par with the brand names. The Costa Rica coffee is great; my second favourite only to Presidentti Gold Label Black, which is about 4 times the price per kilogram. In my opinion, Pirkka is nine thumbs up!
- In recent years I've been using more Rainbow products, since the Sale supermarket is close to home. The quality of Rainbow products has been improving consistently and I now regularly buy Rainbow cheese, eggs, pasta, and many other products, and they are all good. I think the prices are 5-10% lower than Pirkka products, too.
Market Halls - Kauppahallit
It seems the dominance of the chain stores has left small independent grocers in the shadows. You see very few butchers, greengrocers or fishmongers, and when you do they are often at marketplaces or events for a limited time only. You can however visit your local kauppahalli for something special and, if you choose, a distinctly Finnish flavour. 'Kauppahalli' means "Market Hall"; Helsinki has 3, and they are also in Iisalmi, Joensuu, Kouvola, Kuopio, Lahti, Lappeenranta, Mikkeli, Oulu, Pori, Tampere, Turku and Vaasa.
Kauppahallit are well known for local produce; they have a large range of dairy, bread and Finnish pies, fish, meat (including moose, reindeer etc), potatoes, fruit and vegetables. There are also imported foods such as cheeses and sausages. Apart from enjoying the produce, you'll probably get to see a piece of your town's history; many market halls are over 100 years old, and adjacent to the town's market square.
Where is the Kauppahalli?
To find your local market hall just enter the word kauppahalli and the name of your town in a search engine. Kauppahallit generally have 'normal' opening hours, for example Monday-Friday 7.00-17.30
and Saturdays 7.00-14.00
Butchers, Fishmongers & Greengrocers
I've tried with limited success to find local grocers using Fonecta. Try by entering the following terms and the desired location / postcode.
- Butchers: lihakauppias (butcher), lihakauppa (meat shop), lihaliike (meat business)
- Fishmongers: kalakauppias (fishmonger), kalatori (fish market), kalakauppa (fish shop), kalaliike (fish business)
- Greengrocers: vihanneskauppias (greengrocer), vihannes (vegetables), hedelmät ja vihannekset (fruit & vegetables)
If you see a Fonecta result including:
- tukku, it means wholesaler
- ravintola, it means restaurant
Online Grocery Shopping
K-Ruoka
About 500 K-stores Finland-wide offer an online food store. Groceries can be home-delivered, or ordered and picked up. Delivery methods vary from store to store. A K-account is required for login; you can register at the site.
Site in Finnish and Swedish; Works well translated in Chrome browser (How?).
Alternatively use Google Translate.
www.k-ruoka.fi/kauppa
More information
Fiksu Ruoka - Smart Food
Online 'supermarket' Fiksu Ruoka is a Finnish-owned company focusing on reducing food waste. They offer a wide range of affordable food and consumer goods, and deliver Finland-wide. Their products are from Finnish manufacturers, importers and wholesale chains, and are in danger of being destroyed due to, for example, being discontinued, overstocked, or approaching their best-before date. Reviews are good.
www.fiksuruoka.fi
Site in Finnish only; Works well translated in Chrome browser (How?).
Alternatively use Google Translate.
Amazon
If you're shopping at Amazon from Finland, use a European Amazon site rather than American or otherwise. Finnish ALV (VAT) will then be taken into account during the purchase process and you won't be liable to additional customs or excise when your goods arrive in Finland. There are restrictions on the import and export of certain goods, so you may occasionally get to checkout and be told "Amazon can't ship this to your address".
From January 1st 2021, goods ordered from the UK must be declared, and taxes and possible customs duties must be paid.
The Grocery sections at Amazon are a bit 'hit and miss' in terms of viability. I've imported a variety of foods, but was not able to bring Vegemite to Finland. But Amazon's worth trying for a couple of reasons:
- They sell groceries which are either completely unavailable or extremely hard to find in Finland
- The products are often attractively priced compared to buying in Finland
Amazon Buying Tips:
- Select the right delivery method or charges can be high
- You often have to buy big quantities, so make sure you have time to consume them before the Best Before date
- Check the Customer Reviews of any product you're not familiar with so you minimise your chances of ending up with lots of something you don't like
Related Links
Links to other sites are direct to the relevant page, where possible
