SOK’s parent organization S group has revealed that its operating result improved by 16 percent from the previous year to 325 million euros in 2022. The improvement was driven especially by the recovery of the hotel and restaurant business, but the trend in the Grocery business was the opposite, and the result fell by 40 million euros from the previous year despite the increase in sales.
“Expenses rose across the board last year, but we didn’t include all the cost increases in the prices. This led to a decrease in the result, Krook explained.
Although the decline in purchasing power has not affected product supply, it has begun to shape demand. Finnish consumers buy less fruit and vegetables, but more sweets, which he says is a typical development in times of economic uncertainty.
“Sweets are a cheap form of luxury for your everyday life. Their demand always seems to increase during a recession. The same phenomenon can be seen in market cosmetics.”
Consumers are also “declining” within product categories: for example, the consumption of chicken has not actually decreased, but consumers now prefer chicken wings instead of more expensive fillets.
Demand has fallen, especially for the products most affected by price increases, such as coffee and salmon. Sales of fresh fish in January 2023 were 24 percent and coffee four percent lower than in January 2022.
“They’ve both come off their peaks a little bit now,” Krook noted.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
Source: The Nordic Page