The uncertain economic situation has made Finns hawkers.
Half of Finns now pay more attention than before to what food they buy at home from the store, according to a recent survey conducted by K-Citymarket in Kantar.
Consumers can now be divided into three categories: a third of consumers are still looking for quality and experience, another 30 percent choose their purchases based strongly on price. The remaining 40 percent implement hybrid consumption, which means that some products emphasize price and others quality.
– In basic products, we move to cheaper products, i.e. from branded products to the store’s own brands. When making pasta for the family, for example, you might choose top-class pasta in the shopping basket, but for the sauce, you also choose a more affordable variant, says Kesko’s grocery manager Ari Akseli.
Also chain manager of K-Citymarket Ari Sääksmäki confirms that the importance of offers has increased in the grocery trade, and the quantities of offer products have been increased according to demand.
– During the fall Mammutti market, we saw a record number of visitors to the website who wanted to familiarize themselves with the offers in advance. Sales of campaign products are now at a record level.
Salmon sales set records in K-Citymarkets in September. Adobe Stock/AOP
An all-time record for salmon sales
One of the offer products that received huge demand this fall has been salmon, the price of which reached a record high earlier this year. When the price collapsed in September and salmon was offered for up to eight euros per kilo, the pent-up demand exploded.
– The sale of salmon this autumn has been quite exceptional. The demand during the campaigns has been really wild. Record sales were made for salmon, says Ari Sääksmäki.
– In the September campaigns, salmon was sold in kilos 30-40 percent more than in previous campaigns.
There is no compromise on delicacies
In hybrid consumption, we can see the phenomenon that people are still willing to invest in delicacies and products at service counters in particular, and savings are more often sought from everyday basic products.
– The affordability is significantly emphasized and, for example, the sales of oatmeal has increased. At the same time, sales of chocolate bars and loose sweets have grown significantly and there is a demand for high-quality sushi, says the K-Citymarket Lappeenranta shopkeeper Ari Piiroinen.
The same is confirmed by the shopkeeper of K-Citymarket Jyväskylä Paloka Pekka Kukkonen.
– In everyday life, we go with the rhythm of everyday food, but we don’t want to splurge on gourmet products. There is also an investment in Saturday’s food, and they are not ready to give up its ingredients.
The merchants and the chain’s management discussed Ruokakauppa’s current situation at the K group’s media conference on October 20, 2022.