Katariina Souri wrote that the price of food had risen by 25.1 percent since August 2021, while the rise in other consumer prices was around 18.1 percent according to her. She referred to a news article from Helsingin Sanomat and an estimate from researchers at the Natural Resources Institute Finland, which indicated that the necessity of food reduced the pressure on stores to lower prices. Souri noted that HS had not addressed the concentration of trade as a reason. According to Souri, the combined market share of the S-group and Kesko in the retail grocery sector was 82.5 percent, with the S-group controlling nearly half of the grocery market. She wrote that Finnish trade was the most concentrated in Europe and that the S and K groups were among the ten most profitable trading entities in the world. According to her, the combined operating profit of the S-group and SOK Corporation had grown from 280 million euros in 2021 to 495 million euros in 2025. In the first half of the current year, the profit had improved by 20 percent compared to the previous year. Souri claimed that the price received by primary producers and the profit development of the S-group had not progressed in the same proportion. According to her, a farmer or rancher was left with approximately 4–12 cents from a normal food euro, depending on the product, while most of the share went to the trade and the tax authorities. She considered the agricultural subsidies to effectively flow significantly into the profits and growth of the S-group and criticized the influence of the chains on zoning and legislation. Souri assessed that the duopoly in trade weakened the position of small businesses and free competition and restricted innovations and consumer choices. She wrote that politicians had failed to intervene in the situation. Additionally, she reported that Pellervo Economic Research had predicted at the end of September that food prices would rise in the following year as well. #ruoka #hintanousu #kauppa (translated)
