Finnish food robots mostly deliver milk and mince

Food delivery robots in Finland mostly carry everyday groceries rather than treats, according to an analysis by Yle. At Osuuskauppa Hämeenmaa, the most popular items include milk, bananas and minced meat.

Home grocery deliveries by Kesko and the S Group now number in the millions each year. Customers typically order basic foods such as milk and vegetables, and the contents of delivered shopping bags are much like those bought in physical stores.

At Hämeenmaa, the 10 most frequently ordered products delivered by food robots are low-fat milk, lactose-free low-fat milk drink, lactose-free cooking cream, bananas, energy drinks, skimmed milk, cucumbers, pork and beef mince, iceberg lettuce and lactose-free skimmed milk drink.

Energy drinks are fifth on the list and stand out from the other products. Robots deliver more treats at weekends, while the contents are nearly the same across the S Group’s robot deliveries.

Hämeenmaa has used food robots for about a year. The service is more popular in suburban neighbourhoods with many detached houses than in city centres. Ahtiala, a neighbourhood about 10 kilometres from central Lahti, has one of the highest rates of robot deliveries in the city and is home to many families with children.

“Customers come from all walks of life. The shopping baskets ordered through robot deliveries are very similar to those bought in physical stores, meaning basic groceries,” says Tero Vehko, a project manager responsible for developing Hämeenmaa’s online grocery service.

Vehko says the robots serve as a way to supplement larger grocery shops. Customers may buy their main supplies at a physical store and use a robot when their cupboards need filling. Car deliveries are used for groceries covering several days.

The popularity of the service in suburban areas and among families with children came as a small surprise to Hämeenmaa. Vehko says food robots have nevertheless found a place in residents’ everyday lives by helping with busy schedules.

Hämeenmaa’s food robots carried about 3,600 deliveries in July. The number has increased steadily since the service began in May 2025, while the number of stores offering robot deliveries has grown from five to nine.

The S Group forecasts that food robots will carry more than one million orders across Finland during the current year, representing about one fifth of all online grocery orders. The service is available at 260 stores nationwide, and the most popular stores dispatch more than 300 robot deliveries a week.

Combined with Wolt deliveries, express deliveries account for about 16 per cent of Hämeenmaa’s online grocery orders. About 70 per cent of online grocery purchases are collected by customers from stores, while the remainder are delivered by car.

A food robot can carry two shopping bags and up to nine kilograms of goods. The S Market in Ahtiala is one of Hämeenmaa’s busiest locations for robot deliveries, sending about 80 orders a week to residents of the neighbourhood.

Kesko says it has seen a similar pattern in its online store. The company does not currently use food robots, and its home deliveries are handled by cars or through Wolt and Uber Eats.