Reporting On... - Revista F&H

16
NORDIC MARKETS
THE FRUIT TRADE IN THE
NORDIC COUNTRIES IS
SUBjECT TO THE PARTICU-
LAR FEATURES OF THESE
COUNTRIES: FROM CLI-
MATIC CONDITIONS AND
THE LOCAL HORTICUL-
TURE TO THE CHARAC-
TERISTICS OF CONSUMP-
TION PATTERNS.
By Uwe Schwießelmann
uwe@fyh.es
Domestic Horticulture and
Imports. The Scandinavian
climate naturally restricts the
number of outdoor crops and
makes greenhouse growing
very cost-intensive. Due to
the low temperatures, many
products have to be cultivated
in glasshouses (e.g. in
Sweden, greenhouse crops
account for half the value of
horticultural production):
100 per cent of tomatoes,
close to 80 per cent of cucumbers,
and an increasing
proportion of berries. But
taking into account the elevated
costs of heating, it is
logical that to compete with
often extremly cheap im-
The Peculiar
Case of Finland
Though, with little more
than 5 m inhabitants,
Finland is not exactly a
point of reference for the
international fruit or food
retail trade, it certainly
presents a curious picture
inasmuch as internationalization
– or rather the
lack of it – is concerned.
At the same time, the
degree of concentration
is even higher than in
other Nordic countries.
Sales of the S Group,
ports is very complicated. As
far as outdoors horticulture
is concerned, volumes of lettuce
(especially iceberg), carrots,
and onions are worth
mentioning, though in Sweden,
for example, strawberries
represent the highest
value (about 27 me) of all
outdoors crops. Apart from
berries, apples and pears,
above all in Sweden, outdoors
fruit production is not
really important. So, the Nordic
countries heavily depend
on imports of fresh fruits and
vegetables: their market share
is about 95 and 60 per cent,
respectively. For many years,
the Netherlands, followed
F&H International 1 • November 2011 Reporting On...
Things to know about the
Nordic
Markets
owned by regional and
local Finish companies,
represent an amazing
44,1 per cent of the domestic
food market. Its
biggest competitor, Finish
Kesko Corporation,
which, apart from all
Nordic countries except
Denmark, operates in the
Baltic States, Russia, and
Belarus, runs over 1,000
K-food stores in Finland
which account for 35
per cent of the market.
9 per cent correspond to
Suomen Lähikauppa Oy
(formerly Tradeca Ltd.);
Lidl accounts for about
4,8 per cent.
by Spain and Germany, have
been the most important suppliers
to the Nordic markets.
Only in the case of Denmark,
imports from Spain are exceeded
by shipments from
Germany. The leadership of
the Netherlands reflects, in
the first place, the country’s
role as central trans-shipment
place and re-exporter. In the
case of Germany, apart from
bordering Denmark, we have
to take into account, that
Lidl and Edeka, for example,
are supplied by these multinationals’
Germany-based
fresh-produce distribution
centres.
The Nordic Consumers. The
Nordic markets have always
stood out for consumers’
high purchasing power as
compared to the European
average: up to 160 per cent
in the case of Norwegians
(food prices are 43 per cent
above European average).
Other characteristics include
a marked environmental
awareness; the importance of
healthy, safe and functional
food products; the prominent
role of organic food in
these countries; the high degree
of consumers’ consciousness
concerning the ethical
aspects of the sustainability
concept (fair trade products);
the orientation towards highquality,
added-value products;
and an inclination of
consumers to favour regional
produce. All this may still be
true, to a certain degree, but
there can be no doubt that
the picture has been modifying
over the last few years.
“The decrease in the tomatoes
growing area in Sweden
is due to the availability of
much cheaper imports which
is why there is no market for
Swedish tomatoes. So much
for the topic of consumers’
preference for regional products...”
M Peter Horvath, Purchasing
Manager Fruit and
Vegetables at Saba Frukt &
Grönt.
The Importance of the Discount
Concept.
The most significant change
in the consumption patterns
is an increase in the importance
of price. The expansion
of big discount retail chains
on these markets, has clearly
had a series of repercussions.
On the one hand, it accelerated
the process of concentration
of the food trade and
intensified the concentration
on prices to the detriment
of quality-orientation,
on the other hand, it forced
retail chains to establish or
reinforce their own discount
concepts. So, Swedish ICA
and Dansk Supermarked
combined forces in a joint
venture to operate Netto discount
stores in Sweden (over
100) and Norway; in addition,
Dansk Supermarked
operates more than 400 Netto
stores in Denmark. With
164 stores, ‘Willys’ (Axfood)
is Sweden’s leading discount
chain. Aldi, the German discount
legend, runs 230 stores
in Denmark.