From greenqueen.com.hk
Finland’s S Group witnessed heightened sales of vegan food across its retail stores in January, aiding its long-term plant-based sales goal amid a wider government push to eat less meat.
More and more plants are on dinner plates in Finland, the world’s happiest country – is that a coincidence?
Weeks after the country updated its dietary guidelines in favour of plant-based proteins, its largest supermarket has reported a hike in sales of vegan products in January.
S Group, the parent company of Prisma, S-market, Sale, and Alepa supermarkets, holds 48% of the retail market share in Finland. In the first month of the year, it expanded its partnership with the Vegan Challenge – or Vegaanihaaste, the country’s answer to Veganuary – to include all four of these retailers.
With record participation numbers in 2025, combined with coordinated discounts, sales of non-dairy milk and cheeses at S-Group stores escalated by 10% from January 2024. Similarly, fava bean protein brand Härkis and plant-based dairy maker Oddlygood jumped by “several dozen percents”, according to Hans Backström, sales director of S Group’s grocery division.
Shoppers also showcased greater interest in fresh vegetables, frozen vegetables, and plant-based cooking products, compared to 12 months prior.
“There is a growing trend towards responsibility and sustainability among Finnish consumers. Additionally, the diversification of vegetable consumption and the introduction of affordable vegetable options have encouraged more people to incorporate plant-based foods into their diets,” Backström tells Green Queen.
For Jukka Kajan, executive director of trade association Plant Based Food Finland (or Pro Vege), it’s a clear sign that the “normalisation of plant-based foods is well underway”.
S Group is a founding member of the association, which aims to promote the development and growth of plant-based food in Finland. “It’s delightful to see such an established retailer keen on putting vegan food options in the spotlight – something that some years ago might have been considered radical,” Kajan tells Green Queen.
S Group’s plant-based sales target ‘very encouraging’
Kajan notes that this year’s Vegan Challenge “broke all records”, challenging the perception that meat is a necessary part of one’s diet – a sentiment that grew louder after the latest update to the dietary guidelines in December, but one that was called “gendered and quite masculine” by Mahla Kettunen, the communications head for the challenge.
More than 27,000 people signed up for the January campaign in Finland – and this is likely an underestimate, as is the case with Veganuary participation globally too, since not everyone who tries the challenge does so officially. “S Group partnered with the campaign and expanded its promotions to all its retail stores following the success in one of its chains in previous years,” says Kajan.
“The results of the price promotion experiments and the successful efforts behind Vegan Challenge campaigns clearly demonstrate the impact retailers can have in steering consumers’ food choices toward plant-rich options. The leverage is tremendous, and we look forward to all retailers making the most out of it,” he adds.
Speaking of all retailers, there has been a Europe-wide shift among supermarket groups to introduce ‘protein split’ targets, i.e., increase the sales share of plant proteins versus animal proteins. Lidl has led the shift across several markets, with Ahold Delhaize and Rewe Group following suit in the Netherlands and Germany.
In 2022, S Group itself announced a target to ensure that 65% of all food sold is plant-based by 2030. “We are already close to the goal; in 2023, plant-based food accounted for 60% of sales,” says Backström.
Kajan points out that this isn’t “strictly a protein split”, since it includes all kinds of categories, including vegetables and cereals. “However, it is very encouraging that plant-based foods have their own target in the sustainability agenda,” he says. “We believe it would be more effective to set more precise mid-term targets, as they would have a stronger influence in guiding employees’ everyday choices.”
How S Group is helping consumers eat more plants
Backström explains that S Group has adopted several measures to encourage Finns to eat more fruits and vegetables. “We prominently display seasonal vegetables in our fruit and vegetable sections throughout the year. Seasonal vegetable tables have been a part of our produce sections for over nine years,” he says.
“For the past two years, our stores have highlighted ‘Under One Euro’ produce, which features fruits and vegetables priced under €1 per kilo or package. Additionally, we enable our co-op members to track their vegetable consumption through the My Purchases section in the S-mobiili app.”
He adds: “We collect edible fruits and vegetables that are at risk of becoming waste into special ‘Hevihävikki’ boxes or bags. This practice expanded nationwide in the S-market chain in 2023 and is also used in many Prismas, Sales, and Alepas.” In 2023, this helped S Group save around two million kgs of fruits and vegetables from going to waste, and these boxes’ popularity has “significantly increased” in 2024.
“Last year, we conducted a nudging experiment at the Tornio Prisma in collaboration with the VTT [Technical Research Centre],” he says. “During the experiment, a few Yhteishyvä (our customer magazine) vegetable recipes and all the ingredients needed to prepare them were made available in the store’s fruit and vegetable section. The recipes and ingredients were placed in the same location, making them easy for customers to collect.”
The best way to promote plant-based? Don’t make a fuss
“It was a pleasure to see that customers bought more diverse foods in January and more and more people started trying plant-based products,” said Backström said in a statement. “We want to lower the threshold for trying plant-based products and help them become part of everyday life.”
This will help expand Finland’s burgeoning vegan sector. According to Kajan, the domestic plant-based market is valued at €150M, thrice as large as the €50M meat-free market.
The industry hopes to attract more interest following the publication of the new dietary guidelines, which urge locals to cut red meat intake by 30%, limit processed meats as much as possible, and essentially avoid eating meat as a snack.
The government encourages Finns to replace these with plant proteins – especially homegrown legumes like peas and white beans – which it recognises as planet-friendly and health-promoting foods. In addition, it suggests consuming fortified non-dairy milk and replacing animal fats and tropical oils with plant-based spreads rich in unsaturated fat.
“The updated guidelines are highly welcomed, as is the inclusion of the impact of food on the environment and climate in them,” says Kajan. “Since school meals, other public food services, and workplace dining are standard in Finland, we assume the new guidelines will have the greatest impact through these food services, many of which follow them strictly.
“In these settings, consumers can easily try new dishes and become accustomed to inspiring flavours prepared by professionals – an inspiration they can then take home.”
He adds that the new guidelines “sparked strong public discussion”, and while many of the loudest comments in the media focused on defending individuals’ right to choose their own diet, the “rather surreal debate undoubtedly worked in favour of plant-based foods”.
“The key to successfully implementing the new guidelines is not to make a big fuss about them – tasty food is tasty food and will always find its eaters. However, if a delicious vegan curry is framed as an alternative option and explicitly labelled as meatless, the reaction might not be as favourable,” he suggests.
“In the best-case scenario, the food environment will be reshaped in a way that eliminates the need for consumers to make conscious food choices repeatedly,” continues Kajan. “Instead, they will naturally end up eating healthier thanks to adjustments in product development, changes in offerings, and strategic nudging in retail and foodservice.”
https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/finland-s-group-market-plant-based-food-vegan-sales-pro-vege/
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