Food prices are set to decline by 4.3 percent in October, drastically cutting the cost of food which is currently amongst the most expensive in the European Union. At the beginning of 2009, YLE reported that Finland's food prices were increasing at a faster rate than in any European country other than Iceland, whose economy had recently collapsed.
'I guess it's a good thing,' says Anna, 32, a social worker originally from Jakobstad, 'because when you go abroad you realise that food prices in Finland are crazy. But I don't think it'll last. Cuts like this never do.' Anna was not sure, however, why it wouldn't last. She was just certain it wouldn't.
Esa, 25, from Oulu, by contrast, has a clear idea why it apparently 'won't last' and is very unimpressed. 'They raise the food prices and now they're lowering them but what's the difference when ALV tax is generally being raised?' asks the student. 'Food in Finland is the most expensive in the EU. They're only lowering the prices because Finns have complained about food prices.'
For Esa, the whole thing's political. 'The government don't want to be blamed for high food prices. There's an election coming in 2011 - maybe even sooner - and that's all they're thinking about . . . getting elected.'
'S-Market and K-Market have, basically, a monopoly on supermarkets in Finland,' insisted Juha, a 42 year-old builder. 'So they can charge what they want! There's this myth in Finland that everything Finnish is better . . . you should be a patriotic Finn and buy Finnish things. These prices reductions are pointless. You can still get everything cheaper at foreign shops like Lidl. And now, in Oulu, there are these Asian shops where everything is imported and they are actually cheaper than the Finnish shops!'
'You have to shop around to get the bargains,' he added, 'and not just go to the big supermarket.' He was also adament that the cuts would be reversed, probably after the 'election.'
The S-Group, the green card shops which include Sale and Prisma, have a 40 percent share of the Finnish food retail industry. The K-Group has a 33 percent share meaning that over 70 percent of food retailers in Finland are owned by just two companies. The S-Group are also in charge of a few restaurants.
'Even in Sweden food is cheaper than here,' added Anna. 'I sometimes go to Sweden to get food. Not only is it cheaper but there is also much more choice in the shops with lots of imports from all over the world. I don't know if that will change if they cut food prices.'
