Funny, but the sign above gave me the impression that Russian is what one should speak at CTOKMAHH nowadays.

PS: no, Lidl isn’t all that cheap in the end. Pretty much equal in pricing to K- and S-market, these days, despite selling cheap products from Germanic countries.

Finns will do anything to save a dime. If the beer is 20 cents cheaper, they’ll go there. And sure enough Lidl has been doing quite well here.

Lid’ls produce actually beats the freshness sometimes in my local K or ass… Variety is sometimes lacking, but they have price/quality on the spot – if you manage to go there the day all the strawberries aren’t growing grey fur.

During it’s presence in Finland, Lidl has only made profit on 2008, even if it holds a market share of 5%.

http://www.uusisuomi.fi/raha/82900-lidl-teki-rajun-u-kaannoksen

Love it! you’ll have to develop a new migrant’s guide to shopping in Finland. It’s taken us 6 months to work all this out! We always struggled with pronunciation so now just find it easier to refer to the two main supermarkets “ass market” and “shitty market”

Actually, I disagree with comment #2 – I think that generally Finns will stick to one place for their own reasons. For example, it’s surprising how many boycott S Markets now they’ll start to stock Arla milk rather than Valio milk, all because Arla is a Swedish company. The milk itself will still be Finnish! And many “Finnish” dairy products (cheese, yoghurt, etc) are not made with Finnish milk.

Anyway, I think that these allegiances to certain shops usually have some reasoning behind them. If Finns would do “anything to save a dime” we wouldn’t have shops like R-Kioski and Siwa. I can’t believe people walk out of R-Kioski with a bag full of beer! Siwa has terrible prices as well, and their “convenience” is no longer as strong a selling point now that the overlords have graced us with the gift of Sunday shopping all year round.

I absolutely love the description of Lidl – I think that’s spot on!

Lidl has during the past years lost contact with the HQ in germany and the shops are slowly turning into more Finnish fitting. The bags are bigger(Now you can fit four milk bottles then two in them) and the variation of products is more and more suitable for the “native” taste,

Funny stuff. After 10 years in Finland I still didn’t even know the names of any of the grocery stores I shopped at, cause they all had the exact same products and prices anyways. Its a cartel – the ‘K’ and ‘S’ are only there to confuse you.

Hakaniemi Market is the bomb. Recognize.

The best grocery store in Finland: Häijään Säästömarket

http://fredfryinternational.blogspot.com/2008/06/hijn-sstmarket.html

Also, what about Prisma????

LIDL, eh? What’s the Finnish for “chav”?

shut up phil

The funny thing is that there is no corruption in Finland. Yet the boards of the k group and s group are chock full of current or past members of parliament. It is probably because of this why they always land the best locations for stores and when a foreign chain tries to come to Finland, it is these people that can make that not happen.

I used to go Kauppahalli, for fresh meat and cakes, made without chemical stuffs. They really shaved my ass in there..very very expensive! Now I shop in the oriental shops, chinese ones are the best and food is really fresh, cheap and exotic (esp. the fish).
250 g of meatballs (which is a small amount for an adult)from finnish shops makes your stomach full like a bomb + dizziness+ acidity+stress, I believe that there is (are) something else than meat within it! Finnish food industry is doing very poorly, Too many fat people around!

I go to Stockmann when in Finland. Their food for Lunch is great.

I completely disagree with what Phil said about Lidl’s fruit and vegetable section. It is often better than at any of the others mentioned. Lidl is now also “forced” to sell many more Finnish products, so that is also one factor why they can’t be dirt cheap anymore. But more Finnish products means less foreign. And if you like different flavours, then that’s a loss.

Only the Stockmann audience seems to be getting away with admitting that some foreign flavours is actually a good thing…

If you want to talk negative about Lidl, you should write something about the lack of cashier personnel, the short check out tables (but they are working on it), the not nice, own system of “pantti” bottles that only can be returned at Lidl store or the selection that is limited.

Negative of the other chains is mainly one thing: they avoid price competition, so everything is always overpriced forever and products on offer are more or less because of the producers or importer, not the chain. Suger at a discount at K? Then also everywhere else, and often not as an offer. The battle is for card holders, and guess what? Every customer enters the store already with a wallet full of customer cards: plussa, bonus, S-etukortti are all there…

I like your German sense of humor, Phil. Excellent!

Yes, the German humor is great. But the implied sarcasm is based on a naive American interpretation of history.

Phil, just so you know, it is spelled “Deutschmark” or “Deutsche Mark.” No big deal, though.

Wal-Mart needs to invade Finland.

Perhaps I’m missing humour here, but lack of variety and not so fresh products? Granted, I departed Finland 20 years ago and only occasionally visit, but I’ve always thought Finnish grocery stores and markets were top quality. Compare that to say a “bodega” in New York or it’s equivalent in say Paris. Unless of course, things have changed?

k-mart needs to invade Finland

then you can blame the Evil uSA again, and again, and again

I love Lidl! does that make a sad, penny pinching, Hitler supporter? And it has lovely none Finnish food stuff and the vegies are lovely from there and who can resist having a nosey through all the cheap tat they sell in the middle isles? Have i sold you on it yet? no? Bugger.

Ass market always makes me smile too.

Great commentary on Finnish chains! However, there’s no such things as a SFP member discount at the Stockmann stores. When it comes to service in Swedish language Stockmann is the only one to guarantee it. Please comment on the Siwa-Valintatalo rivalry too. Also, there are Finnish cheap store like Vapaa Valinta who also deserves to be mentioned.

What about Prisma?

Hey Phil, I’d have thought you would have posted something about the government plans to eradicate beggars from the streets.

I’ve heard of Lidl before, but a KKK Market? Seriously??

There is truly no variety in Finnish grocery stores, and everything is very expensive.

Finns do not realize this lack of variety, because they know nothing else!!!

Finnish supermarkets only sell Fairy dishwashing , and only in 2 colours; green and yellow. I am used to walking into any supermarket in my country , and choosing between locally made dishwashing liquids, as well as Dawn, Squeezy,Palmolive,Joy, etc. Also, each of these brands offers different coloured(fragranced) liquids. So you can choose between apple,lemon, lime, tropical,strawberry,pear etc scents. THAT IS WHAT I CALL VARIETY!

Also, in Finnish supermarkets, all you have are regular yellow(brown) onions. I am used to seeing white onions, red onions, sweet vidalia onions etc at supermarkets back home.Again, that is variety!

Finnish supermarkets also have a limited variety of peppers. No jalapeno peppers to be found, as well as other types of chilis.

The variety here is so poor.The only thing here which is very varied is the selection of bread. That I find really amazing. Also, I prefer the Valio milk to the other brands out there. The other brands seem overly diluted, compared to Valio.

# 26.”The variety here is so poor.The only thing here which is very varied is….”

….. Beer not bread.

phil is racist

I have lived 6 years in U.S. (Manhattan) and I’ve been starving for good grocery-store food all this time. Thank you god I’m able to visit Finland at least once a year and finally eat delicious food. And every time I return from my annual visit to Finland, I have around 15 kg of food products in my suitcases (praying the customs won’t see).

American grocery stores blow your mind at first; all the variety must mean good food??? But then you start to go through the items; no taste (yes, corn syrup), no taste (yes, corn syrup), no taste (yes, corn syrup). Eventually you will find out that there is no variety in taste at all nor in the quality (all crap), it is just the packaging that looks different.

And let’s talk about the genetically engineered products, like tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries etc. with neither smell nor flavor. It is like eating “wax fruits”. Sure, they look pretty, big and colorful, but they are white inside and that already tells you there is something wrong here. How about the live stock in U.S.? They are pumped with growth hormones and antibiotics. The pieces of chicken breast in American grocery stores are about 20cm X 15cm. I am not kidding. Makes you think how that “chicken” looked like. The taste of chicken in US is a combination of old herrings mixed with pig fat.

The only way to survive in US. (if you are European) is to buy organic products. Organic fruits and vegetables don’t have more taste than the regular ones, because they use the same genetically engineered seed stock. But organic chicken does tastes better, almost as good as chicken in Finland. Alas, the organic food in US is extremely expensive. I also go to Russian stores around NYC. They have imported cheeses and Valio products from Finland. Those are the rare moments when I’m enjoying my food in US.

Keeping you from eating McDonald’s every night? A person who was grown up in US by eating McDonald’s food doesn’t have taste buds evolved enough to make any conclusions about food.

A great documentary about what Americans eat is “Food Inc”.

#29.”….. A person who was grown up in US by eating McDonald’s food doesn’t have taste buds evolved enough to make any conclusions about food…..”

Wow. And a Finn could make such conclusions about food!
By the way, the culture of the American cuisine based on the French, Italian, Spanish and Latino cuisine, plus some traditional Cowboys meals that you could find also in Amarillo.

#29, dude/tte, wow. Come to California. My Finnish relatives cry at the fresh fruits and vegetables at our local farmer’s markets, many of them organic, some you can pick yourself right off the trees. Try 15 different varieties of lettuce, peaches so juicy the skin almost melts off, 8 different varieties of potatoes, heirloom tomatoes, bok choy, baby bok choy, kale, winter squashes, shiitake, matsutake, portobello mushrooms — oh, it makes me delirious.

And there’s plenty of non-steroidal chicken available. Try Trader Joe’s!If your food selection is so depressing, you need to try other stores.

I love Finnish ruisleipa – nothing compares. Ja ma todella kaipaan karjalanpiirakoita — niita ei kylla taalla saa. But man I will always be grateful for the bread and salad basket of California’s fertile valleys. There’s a reason why Clinton and others dine here, why so many restaurants flourish in California. We have some of the best, freshest ingredients in the world.

Ryydy!

Heh, no SFP discount at CTOKMAHH but you become eligible to their stock option program after a certain sum spent on purchases there. I know because my ex- Young Left wife crossed that limit last year. I’m definitively married to a middle-aged woman now.

So if Phil is all anti-racism and anti-hate, then what is the all that bullshit about Swedish speaking Finns?

Seriously, What.The.Fuck.

So we’re all rich. Ok then, explain to us how you can stereotype an entire group of people and then claim you are not a fucking asshole racist. All this blog is is fucking hate anyway. You’re not funny, but you are pathetic.

>>>anna-belle: Also, in Finnish supermarkets, all you have are regular yellow(brown) onions. I am used to seeing white onions, red onions, sweet vidalia onions etc at supermarkets back home.Again, that is variety!<<<

Anna-belle, where on earth do you shop? Just about every store has red onions, schalotte onions, spring onions, and so on. And right now also white summer onions and in about a month giant onions.

And only Fairy? You must shop at some tiny kiosk, there are at least 20 brands of dishwasher, although more stuff is for machine wash than hand wash.

Usually also jalopenos, but different oriental chilies are more usual.

I have always hated gays and I will hate them forever.

Sadly no discount for SFP members at Stokis. The days are fast fading when it was the one shop were one could guarantee 100% service in Swedish as well.

AmeriikanEnkeli:
Come to California. My Finnish relatives cry at the fresh fruits and vegetables at our local farmer’s markets, many of them organic, some you can pick yourself right off the trees. Try 15 different varieties of lettuce, peaches so juicy the skin almost melts off, 8 different varieties…

You said it! California really does have everything. The US in general is a cornucopia of neat “stuff.”

In what part of Cali do you live?

Interesting post.Lidl I find after living in Finland for 22 years to be complete rubbish.Stockmans has a great selection of foreign foods,but is pricey.
I have found the best way to get good quality at decent prices is to visit Kauppahalli or Hakaniemi market square.Good selection of meats,cheeses,veg,fish and othjer sundries.I can spend a d ay in those markets.Check them ouit if your in Helsinki

“k-mart needs to invade Finland”

Yes please. I want American Fare Dr Rocket (Dr Pepper knock-off – very good)!

I have two words – BULL SHIT. I have been working globally in Asia, in the Far Wast and in the USA. The variety in Finland is totally on par with the US. Well, in fact it’s even better KKK is gives you what Wholefoods gives you in the US. So there you go.

But, on the other hand, like the writing daisy I don’t see a problem with grillin pork chops and making some bologna. My kids eat that with gusto. Finnish food is really good, US stuff can be good. The later can also kill you. In a way, you could say that stateside food is more exciting..GRREEAT.

And, yes. Sorryh for the bloody typos.-

“k-mart needs to invade Finland”

I don’t think so. Finnish market is too small to invest in ,plus the monopoly obstacle and the consumer’s tolerance towards the international goods (considering 75% of finns live in rural area ) and the modest demand . The French group “Carrefour” was planning to open its chain in Finland, but they cancelled the plan due to the above reasons. they went to Estonia and Sweden. Lidl (the Monasterial group) survived the Finnish market because of its principle that was based on through European markets: Charity and generosity toward the poor consumers. That’s why ,in Lidl, some brands are changing every time because they are also charitable.

Finnish gastronomy depends so much on the “ready-food”.
Viva the microwave oven.

“LIDL, eh? What’s the Finnish for “chav”?”

There’s no need for a distinct word since it describes just about everyone.

Having a more Central European taste, I find Lidl a godsend. The prices are often significantly lower, even though not as much as in the beginning. As for the produce, I wouldn’t say it’s worse than the average Alepa – in fact, probably better much of the time. Of course, the selection is pretty limited and much of the ready-made stuff is inedible.

Wanha Kauppahalli and Hakaniemen Halli are good but pricey. I’d get my cheese from the former and my meat from the latter. A good budget option for shopping outside the cartel are the ethnic markets on Hämeentie.

By the way, what’s with the exclusive locations of CTOKMAHH? Itäkeskus? Tampiola? Yeah, that’s the Finnish Hamptons all right. And when I was living in on the East Side, I witnessed many black people boldly stepping through the doors of the KKK market. It takes guts to be an immigrant in Finland!

anna-belle:
“Also, in Finnish supermarkets, all you have are regular yellow(brown) onions.”

Um, Neste and R-Kioski aren’t supermarkets, actually.

Please bring Tesco in Finland.

Wow. It’s interesting to see that unless your neighbourhood supermarket (for that’s what your average S-Market & KKK-Market are) has Whatever Products You Liked To Eat In Your Home Country, it lacks variety. For crying out loud, your average supermarket in any part of the world mainly stocks local things and things that are an established part of the consumers’ taste – in other words, things that the locals buy, and that’s the end of it. A neighbourhood Tesco in the UK has no more variety than a KKK-market in Finland, neither does a Carrefour in Singapore.

Go to a Prisma or a Citymarket and there’ll be more variety – more brands to choose from, different fruit and veggies and probably a shelf full of ‘ethnic’ foodstuffs as well. And then there are the smaller immigrant-run stores which have all sorts of neat stuff your tastebuds might be more familiar with.

Phil, if you ever come back to the US, go to Wegmans. They have a store over in Hunt Valley, MD. http://www.wegmans.com. Arguably the best grocery store chain in the US – if not the world.

As for the K3 store, I can see why the Yanks would have a field day over the name of the store.

At winter you can’t find proper oranges or mandarines. That’s not Tesco, but sick! There are those sponges from Argentina or Peru or the ones they dump into the ocean. Expensive and gone. Good oranges and mandarines are super super rare.
In some anus-market there are oranges only from Israel, they can afford to have a monopoly there, and sell what they wouldn’t even take for free at home. Those things are rotten water.
Even worse are those pieces of orange wood, and the local markets can’t even write where they’re from:: you can read Turkey, Cyprus, Grece, Egypt, Morocco, but they’re all the same bitter junk from the same poor sick field of trees who knows where. Those mandarines can’t be peeled. Anyway they’re funnily so compressed that if you stick something in, they may explode. I can just imagine stories about the import of that garbage.I wonder if also thebosses eat that crap.

Is it true that Carrefour planned to come here? That would have been cool!

I’m a Finn who has lived in France so I can compare Finland to it. Not surprisingly the French stores offer better variety of stuff, especially cheeses and wines with cheaper prices. When it comes to the micro-heated ready-made stuff, that is definitely better in France. Otherwise I am pretty happy with the Finnish stores though prices are “naturally” higher in Finland. You also find many different Lidl like chains with extremely cheap stuff in France – even cheaper than Lidl.

Then again, I would guess that France (and I lived in Paris) is about the best place in the world to shop for food (and for restaurants). It’s a bit unfair to expect the same variety and quality (in cheeses, for instance) in Helsinki. I miss the cheap cheeses, wines, restaurants and bakeries. A little foreign variety in Finland wouldn’t hurt in the form of Carrefour or other big European chain. But back in Finland I enjoy rye bread, reindeer meat, salmon, berries and my favorite milk (have you tried French milk – it’s usually horrible).

I prefer French milk. The cows eat grass outside, not molded hay inside.
Carrefour won’t come to Finland, as someone previously mentioned. If they ever did, they wouldn’t sell wine, because it’s forbidden in Finland. This isn’t Estonia. There’s prohibition in this free country.

#48. That’s true x. The oranges imported from Egypt, is given just to the field-donkeys in there, as one Egyptian doctor has told me. It cost them about less than 5 cent per kilo, and they sell it for 1.20 euro/kilo in here!…easy winning.

About Kesko. The K-KKKK raiting system kas not been in use for a long time. Some stores just update their logos really slowly. The shops are now called K-citymarket, K-supermarket, K-market and K-extra. I did cry a lonely tear when the KKK-market Hertta became just a K-market. I used to bring so many of my foreign friend there for a photo op. If anybody knows any kesko stores that still have the KKK-branding let me know in the comments.

A former Kesko corporate whore

I usually shop in K-Markets, but sometimes also like to check other shops for variety. I have nothing against Lidl (aka Nazi-Siwa, or Waffenbrüder-shop) for example.

It’s just that “nazi” which is stupid.

I just love this post!
So spot on. I became a fan…

none! Finnish food lacks in variety, freshness (mostly imported or well preserved) and taste. And the prices are from the planet Monopol. Beer is crap piss, bread and potatoes ok, strawberries – only Finns could pay 4€ for 1/2 kg of them! I won’t mention fish at astronomic prices in a country almost surrounded by sea and with thousand lakjes! Wonder where all the extra profit money goes to…?, Kesko guys are quite clever.

Oh wow the KKK market joke, you’re only 10 years behind the times on that one you tremendous balding american faggot.

OMG lidl and hitler jokes, christ how embarrasing…

I buy at Prisma (part of S-Group) because it is relatively affordable, has a good selection of veggies and fruit and is close. Also quite good ecological selection of many products.

And on an aside: I absolutely detest the Finnish attitude towards other countries’ products; I am Dutch and I refuse to eat Finnish apples, because they are sour, small and without any taste (not to mention the rotten spots). On the other hand, I live here voluntarily AND I try to live in a sustainable way, so I go with the seasons and eat tomatos only in Summer, although they are still inferior to Meditteranean tomatos.

On the plus side in Finland: a very wide selection of grains and flours – we make our own bread so this rules. Finnish bread is good too. I don’t eat meat nor drink milk/eat cheese so I don’t comment on those although Finnish animal industry is as bad as anywhere in Europe.

It never fails, post something and you will have those who think of Finland as a horrible place to live and those who love it. If aren’t Finnish and want to complain so much about the place you currently call home, perhaps you should just move. Finland is in the far north. Who is going to ship all of these products so many of the posts complain the Finnish groceries lack? And how much will it cost to ship and then eventually buy in the stores? I miss many things from California, where I’m from, but you can’t beat forest strawberries, true rye bread, Finnish herring and salmon, and the potatoes are by far the best I’ve tasted.

Just my two cents.

Spot on.

I have never shopped in Valintatalo mostly because I was never sure if it’s a grocery store or a hardware store :-/

I absolutely dislike SMarket. I live in Espoo and I recently went to the Espoo shopping mall against my better judgement just to see (and buy groceries of course) SMarket c’mon!!!! The shelves were half empty with dusty products and everything was arranged in such a haphazard way, I immediately lost my focus for what I intended to buy and hence my appetite. The worst but most hilarious part, as I was checking out, the cashier suddenly started having this casual conversation with a customer behind me (even though he closed right after me, she still went ahead and plopped her stuff regardless of the closed sign), he served me, while still chatting away about the products she purchased at Ikea!! I packed my stuff while they went on chatting!!!! Hahaha .. Oh my, anyway I’m never going to shop there again.

I sometimes shop at Kmarket in kamppi for the location near work place, but I prefer Stockmann because everything is completely fresh, and Kmarket has ripped me off enough times, I bought some really old damaged potatoes for double the price I would normally buy at Stockmann how ironic! Kmarket also makes a point of loudly discounting soon to go bad fruits and it’s the first thing that meets you at the door. I once fell for that trick and forgot the orange at work for two days, only to almost faint when I unwrapped them to find grey mouldy covered fruits.

While Kmarket is a few notches up-better than smarket, it is sometimes just a glorified brand that doesn’t always live up to it’s hyped up marketing.

About Lidl. I don’t shop there mainly because everytime I get past the doors, theres always some guy waiting to hit on me. Maybe the store creates some sort of cozy atmosphere? Anyway too many layabouts there, not to mention the creepy vartja who thinks their products are at risk of being stolen.

Hi i am doing a paper for college on Finland and i need to find foods from Finland in IL so i can present the type of foods that are used there.

Lidl is the best, because it`s the cheapest. Vegetables and fruits are not any way worse than in K or S.  It`s also important for me that it is not a part of cartell unlike K- and S-chains. I don`t want to buy anything from criminals!

i have a question…

why is Stockmann on the store written in Russian…?

well is not taht easy,many moved since they had better chance for work,some for love,,so u cannot really chose,so all u got is complain and miss your home,,and try to accept whats good in it,,which is not much but enough to survive but not to enjoy life…

prisma and s market maybe have better selection of products from otyher countried..prisma i found last time little better since i first time found 2 different cuts of lam,woowo!!extremely rare….damn i miss italian supermarkets!

prisma and s market maybe have better selection of products from otyher countried..prisma i found last time little better since i first time found 2 different cuts of lam,woowo!!extremely rare….damn i miss italian supermarkets!

yes yes i want carrefour too!!

yes yes i want carrefour too!!