Fruitnet.com talks to Tarja Jukkara, director of fresh produce for major Finnish grocery retailer Kesko, about the efforts Kesko is making to increase fresh produce sales in a market that has one of the lowest fruit and vegetable consumption rates in Europe.
Fruitnet.com: How would you assess the current state of the grocery retail market in Finland, with regards to fresh produce? What is the general feeling in the market?
Tarja Jukkara (TJ): The general feeling in the market is fairly positive and fruit and vegetable sales are increasing. The growth in the overall Finnish economy at the moment is boosting sales. We at Kesko are growing as well and there are a lot of things happening in our network.
What in your opinion are the most important current trends in the Finnish fresh produce market? How do you see these developing?
TJ: The most dominant or visible trends at the market right now are locally grown – or ‘near food’ as it is called here inFinland – and seasonal products or season’s best. Organic products are also growing in sales after a more stagnant period.
In the summer, we only sell domestically grown cucumbers and iceberg lettuce. There is a very strong preference for Finnish fruit and vegetables when they are in season.
In the UK, many shoppers switched to value ranges from premium lines during the recession. Was the same pattern repeated in Finland? If so, have you seen any indications that premium is recovering?
TJ: Private label is growing in share. We see this very strongly with our private label, Pirkka, which grew by 28.3 per cent during the first quarter of this year. The growth has been even stronger since then.
Similarly, in what way do you believe organic and Fairtrade lines have been affected and do you see these categories recovering this year?
TJ: Organic is growing faster after some more stable years. However, share of organic is lower than, for example, in Sweden, so there is space for growth. Fairtrade was growing very strongly in the past few years ,but now the growth is more stable. We still see very strong growth in Fairtrade flowers.
How do you see the market developing over the next 12 months? Do you think fresh-cut or ready-to-eat fruit and vegetables will become more important?
TJ: There is still a lot of space for growth in fruit and vegetables because – partly due to the traditional Finnish diet – consumption per capita is one of the lowest in the whole of Europe. Our own figures support this finding.
We are trying to change this situation very actively through fruit and vegetable promotional campaigns. We also have a customer magazine we give out in our stores that has a lot of fresh produce-related recipes, which has been very well received. We are not only selling products, we are selling solutions.
Fresh-cut salads are still growing very nicely in our stores, and so are ready-to-eat fruits, even though these segments are very small at the moment. We are also seeing nice growth in berries year around.
