The S Group has four major supermarket chains: the hypermarket Prisma, the supermarket S-Market, as well as the smaller supermarkets Alepa and Sale. The K Group primarily operates the grocery store chains K-citymarket, K-supermarket, and K-market, which generate the majority of the group's sales revenue. The grocery sales revenue of Lidl reached over 1.9 billion euros in 2020. Of the three grocery retailers, the K group had the largest amount of grocery stores, with 1,236 in 2020. Grocery stores belonging to the S Group amounted to 1,056. At the same time, the number of stores operated by the discount store chain Lidl has increased to 193.
From 1996 to 2020, the average value of a grocery shopping basket in Finland increased from 14 euros to 24.5 euros. Overall, general consumption trends related to well-being, natural ingredients and responsibility have been on the rise in recent years. These changing needs of the consumers are also reflected in the sales growth of plant-based and organic food products in supermarkets. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Finnish consumers have increasingly been looking for ecologically and domestically produced food. According to a survey from May 2020, 40 percent of the respondents said that they preferred food products made in Finland. As most people were shopping less often in physical stores, online shopping for groceries almost doubled in Finland during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in April and May 2020. However, while online grocery shopping is becoming more mainstream, only a small percentage of Finns bought groceries online often prior to the pandemic.
