Finland's Kesko has announced that it has introduced 'vege' shelves in 200 of its K-Food stores, as strong growth in plant-based protein products continue.
Kesko reports that the new vege shelves, branded in green, will be located next to the meat section of its stores, and offer customers an alternative to meat based products.
Jani Tynkkynen, Department Manager, developed the vege shelf concept. He said, “Thanks to the vege shelves, a growing number of customers have found plant-based protein products, which further raises their sales.”
Kesko added that their customers can ask that their local K-Food store sets up a vege shelf if it does not currently have one. It will also listen to product recommendations from customers.
Plant-Based Growth
Ari Akseli, Vice President for Commerce, Kesko's grocery trade division, said, “Sales of plant-based protein products in K-food stores have grown strongly in recent years. Growth has taken place in a number of product categories, including vegetable protein products, vegan ice cream, non-dairy milks as well as soy and bean products.
“Vegetarian food made an especially strong breakthrough in Finland last year and the vege shelves corresponded excellently with changes in consumer habits. Because we received so much good feedback from our customers about the vege shelf experiment, the concept quickly spread throughout Finland.”
Compared to last year, a number of non-dairy products have seen strong growth in sales. Milks, creams and yoghurts have grown 47%, 63% and 56% respectively.
In addition, all frozen vegan products (like soya steaks, falafels, vegetable burgers) have sold 41% more than last year, and hummus and falafel products have seen a 305% increase in sales.
Kesko is now introducing vegan alternative to meals with pasta made from lentils, beans and chickpeas - removing the eggs from a normal pasta dish.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
