Economic uncertainty is leading many shoppers in Finland to cut back on their grocery bill and increasingly choose stores’ own brand products over the more expensive brand-name options.
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Food prices will rise by an average of about 2 percent next year, according to PTT’s estimates. Image: Tiina Jutila / Yle
Food prices in Finland will increase by an average of about 2 percent next year, according to an estimate by the Pellervo Economic Research institute (acronymed as PTT in Finnish).
In a report published on Thursday, the institute noted that Finnish households are looking to save money on their grocery bills, especially in light of ongoing economic uncertainty and low consumer confidence.
“Customers are choosing more affordable products instead of so-called value-added products,” explained Päivi Kujala, senior agricultural economist PTT.
In practice, this means that shoppers in Finland are choosing stores’ own brand products — which are usually cheaper — instead of the more expensive brand-name options.
According to PTT, the knock-on effect of this behaviour by consumers will be to keep prices moderately low.
Food prices in Finland rose dramatically in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, climbing to an average of over 16 percent in February 2023.
Kujala noted that the trend of thriftier shopping became more noticeable around this time, and was a contributory factor in the price stablisation that has occurred since and keeps the outlook for prices steady too.
This year, food prices are expected to rise by about 2.5 percent, which was also the forecast PTT gave in April.
“A 2.5 percent increase is a very moderate rise in food prices,” Kujala said.
However, PTT also warned that some food products will become more expensive because the costs of producing them are getting increasingly higher.
Products such as domestic beef, coffee, cocoa and fruit are all expected to increase above the average next year, and this rise will be reflected in consumer prices, according to the institute.