Finnish grocer offers same early potatoes at two prices – most customers choose the costlier option

A grocer in Turku is selling locally grown early potatoes at two different prices, with 86 percent of customers opting for the more expensive option in the first days of the trial, Finnish broadcaster Yle reports.

Niina Puoskari, the owner of a small grocery store in Rymättylä, set the price of the same batch of early potatoes at €9.95 per kilogram or €11.95 per kilogram. The €2 difference in the higher-priced option goes directly to the farmer, Antti Ruohonen. Puoskari stated she retains no profit from either price, covering only fuel costs for transporting the produce.

The experiment stems from concerns over the future of Finnish food production and even food security. Puoskari told Yle that market prices often fail to cover farmers’ rising costs, risking their ability to continue operations. “This might make people think about how much food should actually cost so that farmers can keep working,” she said.

Puoskari, who sources the potatoes directly from Ruohonen’s farm, described the dual-pricing initiative as a personal effort to influence change rather than a business strategy. She plans to continue the trial throughout the summer.

Economist Kyösti Arovuori of Pellervo Economic Research noted that while the experiment shows consumer willingness to pay more in this case, shoppers typically choose the cheapest option in daily purchasing. He added that Finnish grocery retail is heavily chain-controlled, leaving individual stores with limited pricing flexibility. “This makes it clear that retailers hold significant power in pricing decisions,” Arovuori said.

Farmer Ruohonen called early potato pricing “uncontrolled,” citing costs that have risen by 20–30 percent due to increased fuel and fertilizer prices linked to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Despite higher production expenses, early potato prices remain nearly 10 percent lower than last year. Ruohonen criticized wholesale traders for destabilizing the market with speculative pricing claims, though he acknowledged that farmers also bear responsibility for the situation.

Arovuori emphasized that market prices are determined by supply and demand, not production costs alone. While rising costs should theoretically reduce supply and drive prices up, he noted that EU and Finnish agricultural subsidies distort this mechanism, slowing the sector’s response to economic changes.