Demand for minced meat exceeds supply, which is reflected in Finns as empty shelves.
There is space on the minced meat shelf. Photo taken on March 13. Oona Mynttinen
Minced meat has stopped some shops and availability problems throughout Finland in all food chains. The problems mainly concern beef.
Mikko JärvinenThe Director of Meat Business at Hkfoods says the cause is complex.
– In general, the production volumes of beef are predicted to decline at a fairly rapid rate, specifically through the reduction of Finnish dairy farms.
According to Järvinen, the number of premises has fallen by 8 % from last year.
“It is visible there that small dairy farms will stop,” he says.
The rise of food prices for 2022-2023 also hit beef.
– Then the storage levels of the beef rose. Last year, demand for meat returned again and oversized warehouses melted, says Järvinen.
– Demand for meat has also remained good.
The total amount of all this beef is available.
Järvinen predicts that there is a little year ahead.
– I anticipate that prices will rise this year according to demand and supply.
“Finland has not been self -sufficient”
The causes of the availability problem of beef also lead to Finland’s borders.
-The high demand for beef in the Middle East and North African beef and demand has led to the increasing export of European beef on these markets, says Atria Finland’s leader of meat and export Markku Hirvijärvi.
– Demand in Europe exceeds supply. The trend has been seen during the autumn of 2024 and has been realized in Finland at the beginning of the year.
Hirvijärvi says that Finland has not been self -sufficient in the production of beef.
– In recent years, the production of Finnish beef has fallen, but at the same time, consumption has remained unchanged and even increased.
According to Hirvijärvi, the situation is expected to continue as long as there is enough demand in North Africa and the Middle East. That is, there is no change in the problem of availability of minced meat in the near future.