Finnish grocery retail sales totalled €1,380.3 million in September, representing growth of 2.6% compared to the same month last year, according to Päivittäistavarakauppa - the Finnish Grocery Trade Association.
Prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages decreased by 0.4% compared to September 2016, while prices for alcoholic beverages and tobacco increased by 3.6%.
Overall, grocery sales have risen by 1.6% in 2017 so far.
"The sales trend has been good over the last six months," said Kari Luoto, managing director of Päivittäistavarakauppa.
"Hopefully, this development will continue in the latter part of the year and will also be reflected in the important Christmas market."
Retail Performance
In September, sales increased in small supermarkets (+7.1%), large supermarkets (+5.7%) and hypermarkets (+2.7%).
However, sales in small grocery stores fell by 6.3% compared to the same month last year, while sales were also down in retail stores (-1.6%) and supermarkets (-7.2%).
"If Finland wants to maintain a nationwide retail network, the competitiveness of small stores needs to be strengthened," added Luoto.
"An effective way to do this is to get the current Alcohol Act under parliamentary scrutiny quickly in force. The reform would guide the customer back to small stores and increase their market share."
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
