Jun Li builds Finnish grocery chain after family invests nearly €500,000

Jun Li’s family has lent nearly half a million euros to their grocery business, which has opened five stores in Finland in less than five years, Yle reports. The Long Harvest Oy chain’s latest store opened at the Iso Omena shopping centre in Espoo.

The number of ethnic food stores in Helsinki has grown sharply. Yle’s review found around 100 such stores in the capital, compared with just three 15 years ago. The current figure is 32 times higher and is based on food premises notifications held by the Finnish Food Authority.

Arhi Kivilahti, a professor of practice at the University of Turku and a retail sector specialist, said the development was not surprising because the change is visible in the streetscape.

“The classic rule of thumb in grocery retail is that customers come from within a radius of about three kilometres,” Kivilahti said. He expects a similar trend in other large cities whose populations have changed through immigration.

In the article, an ethnic food store means a grocery shop whose selection focuses on products from another country, culture or geographical region rather than Finland. The classification is Yle’s estimate, based on the types of products that appear to dominate each store’s selection.

From wholesaler to grocery retailer

Ethnic food retail is gradually becoming more professionalised, with several chains now operating in the sector. Long Harvest is a family business with three stores in Helsinki and its fifth location in Espoo.

Jun Li describes himself as the company’s driving force, although his name does not yet appear in the company’s financial statements. On paper, the company is still run by his wife and sister, but Li said that was likely to change soon.

Li speaks only a little Finnish and uses English with difficulty. A friend who speaks better English accompanied him as an interpreter.

“Maybe I will have time to study Finnish when I retire,” Li joked.

The company made large losses relative to its revenue in 2022 and 2023, but became profitable in 2024. The financial statements for the most recent year were not yet available.

“The years 2022 and 2023 included a lot of investment in the stores. That provided a good foundation for later development,” Li said.

According to the financial statements, Li’s family has financed the company by lending it nearly €500,000 in the form of subordinated loans. Such loans are commonly used when a company needs additional funding but wants to avoid a share issue or cannot obtain a conventional loan. They also strengthen a company’s solvency.

Li says he made his fortune as a wholesaler supplying restaurants. Fourteen years ago, he helped establish Oy Golden Crop Ab in Finland. The company now supplies a large share of the rice used by Asian restaurants in Finland, and Li served as its chief executive until 2023.

Golden Crop is also building its own grocery chain in Finland.

Ambitious growth plans

Li said he came to Finland from China’s Anhui province by chance. After graduating from university, he moved to Guangdong province for work, where people offered him a job in Finland at a clothing company.

He worked there for only a year before finding further employment in the restaurant sector. Twenty years later, he is still in Finland. Li said he grew to appreciate the country’s clean nature and peaceful culture.

“As a foreigner, it is not easy to find work, so I became an entrepreneur,” he said.

Long Harvest already employs slightly more than 20 people. When the pace of expansion was described as fast, Li and his interpreter smiled.

“We have greater ambitions. In our opinion, this is not fast,” Li said.

About 80 percent of ethnic food stores focus on food from outside Europe. The strongest growth has been in stores specialising in Asian food, particularly products from East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Indian region.

Helsinki has nine shops that focus mainly on halal meat. Among European food stores, Estonian and Italian food have the largest number of outlets. Most Italian food stores are delis.

Yle’s review records 94 ethnic food stores opening in Helsinki between 2020 and 2026.