Grilled meat, new potatoes, and beer make Midsummer for the Finns

Alko liquor stores expect bumper sales as ever

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Vast quantities of sausages and beer are lugged to car boots from supermarkets
     
      The amount of sausage Finns consume during the Midsummer week is approximately three times as large as normal.
      For example the Midsummer sales of the food producer HK’s grill sausages amount to almost a million kilogrammes, reports Antti Paavilainen, Senior VP of sales at HK.
      And with their sausages Finns want to drink beer. Lots of it. Around 4.5 million litres of beer are sold around Midsummer - about 50 per cent more than during normal weeks.
      In addition, the sales of disposables, such as cups and plates, are doubled.
      ”The Midsummer week means one of the greatest efforts for the logistic chain in the entire year”, says Ilkka Alarotu, the Director of Assortments and Pricing at the Finnish retailing cooperative oranisation SOK (Suomen Osuuskauppojen Keskuskunta).
      Alarotu expects the sales of the S Group grocery stores to increase by about 15 per cent on the Midsummer week, even though the number of days when the shops are open is fewer.
     
     
Sales (and consumption) of new potatoes peak
     
      On MIdsummer week, new potatoes are at their best. It is when their flavour becomes richer, says Saija Peltomaa, the chair of Pro Peruna ry (”Pro Potato Association”).
      ”On the Midsummer week, the sales of potatoes grow by up to 200 per cent”, Peltomaa estimates.
      The Midsummer weekend is among the best periods in the entire summer when it comes to the consumption of potatoes.
      Finns are willing to pay for domestic potatoes more than for spuds imported from Sweden.
      One of the favourite potato varieties is ”Siikli”.
      ”It is good and firm in texture, not watery”, Peltomaa explains.
     
     
People driving towards countryside need petrol
     
      The two days prior to Midsummer are the busiest days at service stations in the entire year. Their petrol sales can even double, estimates Director Arvo Ruotsalainen of Neste Oil.
      However, in total the sales at Midsummer do not differ much from an ordinary weekend, as Midsummer Eve and Midsummer Day are among the most silent days in the year, once people have driven - occasionally at a snail's pace as some roads clog up with traffic heading out of the cities - to their summer cottages or those of friends and relatives.
      ”When we sum up the sales figures for the entire Midsummer week, our net earnings are not much higher than on a regular week”, Ruotsalainen notes.
     
     
Service stations along highways are congested
     
      All cities go silent at Midsummer, and none more so than Helsinki, but the service station stores are crowded with customers.
      During the Midsummer weekend, the numbers of visitors grow by 30 to 40 per cent compared with normal weekends.
      ”The stores have been filled up with food and beverages”, says Development Director Sarita Lehtinen of the ABC service station store chain.
      Midsummer marks the beginning of the busiest sales period of the year.
     
     
Wine-in-a-box is popular at summer cottages
     
      For the outlets of Alko, the state-owned wine and strong liquor retail monopoly, Midsummer is the busiest season next to Christmas. On Midsummer week, the sales of Alko products grow by around 60 per cent compared with normal sales.
      At Midsummer, even wine-in-a-box is good enough for consumers. The sales of the 2-3-litre cardboard wine boxes spike at Midsummer, accounting for about 50 per cent of the sales of wines, which is usually some 38 per cent of all Alko sales.
      ”At Midsummer wines are not selected as carefully as for example at Easter. The quality is not so important”, estimates Taina Vilkuna, Product Communications Manager at Alko.
      For many, quality is sacrificed for quantity. Midsummer is a rather liquid time, and unfortunately all too many learn that alcohol and water do not mix well. Drowning statistics often spiral upwards at this time of year as people who have had a skinful take their first dip of the year in the often still-chilly lake, or - in the tragi-comic archetypal male case - tumble to their doom from the stern of a small boat while taking a leak.
Please do NOT emulate them.

More on this subject:
 Midsummer weekend busy on highways

Links:
  Juhannus, or Midsummer in Finland (Wikipedia)
  Matkahuolto (long-distance buses and coaches)
  HSL, Helsinki Regional Transport
  VR, Finnish Railways
  For those staying here - City of Helsinki Tourist Information Office (also Espoo & Vantaa)

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