Several New Organic Stores in Finland

The cooperative Ruohonjuuri, that was founded in Helsinki in 1982 and for a number of years has also had a presence in Tampere, has opened its third store in Turku on the south west coast of Finland. In October 2006, Ruohonjuuri took over the small eco-store ‘Lloinen Maapallo’, and four months later moved it to bigger premises. On a conference in February 2007 the organic industry has set its new goals: Until 2015, 6 % of consumed food and 10 % of exported food shall be organic.

Picture: Ruohonjuuri Turku

The store now measures 150 m² and has a range of around 3000 products, half of which are food items. The original store in Helsinki has also moved twice in one year - first at the beginning of 2006, when the building was pulled down, and in January 2007 to new premises in the same street (Salomonkatu) in the centre of Helsinki. This resulted in an increase of retail space from 150 to 170 m². “Since moving on the 20th of January, we have increased our turnover by 40 %,” says Johanna Koskinen, who is responsible for the food range and marketing. New products are wooden toys and a corner specially for Globe Hope (www.globehope.com) which is a Finnish brand founded in 2003 consisting of trendy clothes made from recycled and ecological materials. Ruohonjuuri’s total turnover last year came to around 2.6 million Euros, which was 30 % higher than two years ago.

Since 2004, Ekolo has had an 80 m² store in Jyväskylä in central Finland  and recently it opened a second store in the Kallio district of Helsinki. The store has two storeys and sells goods ranging from food to household products, hemp clothing and recycling design. This wide assortment of practically anything that is ecological is typical of organic stores in Finland. A total of 2500 products are on sale in the 120 m² store. Most of the grain products, nuts and dried fruit are sold as loose goods, and you can fill up with washing powder yourself. Among the 60 shareholders of the business are private individuals, entrepreneurs and environmental and animal conservation organisations.

Both Ruohonjuuri and Ekolo trade over the internet. Many people in the country or in smaller towns do not have access to an organic store, and they are pleased to be able to place an order for more products than can be found in the conventional supermarkets, that mostly stock some organic fruit and vegetables which are typically pre-packed so as not to be confused with the conventional products. These stores also sell some organic eggs, dairy and grain products, but that is usually the limit.

According to Ekolo’s managing director Leena Kunelius, there has been a real boom in organic shops in the smaller towns in the last six months. In the provincial centres Kuopio, Vaasa and Kouvola alone new stores have opened their doors.

The market research institute Nielsen reported that in 2006 the Finns bought 7 % more organics than the year before. Based on submissions by its panel of consumers, Nielsen estimates the value of the organic market in Finland to be 57 million Euros and just under 1 % of the total food market. The conventional food trade had a share of 82 %, but the strongest growth was registered by the specialist trade, on-farm sales and weekly markets. 18 % of organic products are sold via these three marketing channels.

On the professional catering scene, there are 200 canteens that are following a common programme and are learning step-by-step to source and process organic food.

At a conference at the beginning of February 2007, the organic industry set itself new targets: by 2015, 6 % of food consumed in Finland and 10 % of all exported food should be organic.

Currently, the biggest demand from abroad is for oats that have a special quality on account of the country’s climate. Oats are also the most important raw material of the company Bioferme (www.bioferme.fi) which Organic Monitor described as one of the most significant product innovators in the Nordic countries in a study on plant-based milk replacement products. Oat snacks similar to yoghurt are being sold under the name Yosa, and the SoYosa (picture) line also contains probiotic oat-soya products.

At BioFach 2007, several manufacturers introduced new berry and grain products (picture) under the generic export label Napapiiri Organics (www.napapiiri-organics.com). Sugar-free jam made from forest fruits (for example bilberries and berries found locally), cold pressed rape oil, traditional Finnish rye bread and flake mixtures that are made into a breakfast food with hot water are the specialities with which managing director Erkki Pöyäniemi from the export group Organic Food Finland (http://www.organic-finland.com) convinced customers at BioFach and Natural Products Europe in London in the middle of April 2007.

05.06.2007