Finns eating less meat and more tofu is becoming visible in supermarket data one year after Finland updated its national nutrition guidelines, with grocery figures from the cooperative giant S Group suggesting that many households are gradually shifting towards more plant-based choices while still constrained by tight budgets.
Updated nutrition guidelines nudging consumers towards plant-rich diets
In November 2024, the Finnish Food Authority introduced new nutritional guidelines that placed clearer limits on red meat and encouraged higher consumption of vegetables, fruits and berries. The recommendations call for around 500–800 grams of vegetables, fruits and berries per person per day, and a maximum of 350 grams of red meat per week, with only minimal intake of processed meat such as sausages and cold cuts.
These recommendations align with broader Nordic and EU debates on how to make diets both healthier and more sustainable, and they explicitly ask consumers to replace part of their animal protein intake with plant-based proteins, fish and whole grains. The data now emerging from S Group’s stores suggest that at least some Finnish shoppers have kept the guidance in mind beyond the initial announcement period.
Tofu, beans and poultry gradually replacing part of red meat
According to S Group’s comparison of grocery sales between January–October this year and the same period last year, tofu products have seen a sales increase of around 17 percent. Other plant-based protein options, including canned beans and meat alternatives, have also become more popular at the group’s supermarkets.
At the same time, processed meat sales at S Group stores have fallen by around 7 percent year-on-year. Sales of ground beef have also dipped, although S Group points out that this trend is influenced not only by the updated guidelines but also by limited availability. Demand for beef in Finland and internationally has remained high, which has contributed to supply constraints.
Within the meat category overall, S Group reports that customers are now more likely to put poultry or pork in their baskets instead of beef. Comparative meat sales have declined by roughly 1 percent, a modest shift that nevertheless points in the same direction as the new recommendations. A recent store survey also found that about 70 percent of S Group customers still eat meat regularly, underlining that Finland remains far from a fully plant-based diet but is slowly diversifying protein sources.
Fresh vegetables and fruit sales rise despite cost pressures
The move towards plant-rich eating is also visible in the fresh produce section. S Group’s figures show that sales of fresh vegetables rose by around 4 percent over the first ten months of the year compared to the same period a year earlier. Staples such as cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and lettuce have all recorded growth.
Fruit aisles have seen similar developments. Sales of bananas, apples and citrus fruit have increased more strongly than a year ago, suggesting that households are responding to the recommendation to eat more fruit and berries alongside vegetables.
There are signs of small behavioural changes in everyday habits. In a survey cited by S Group, some customers reported replacing cold cuts on their sandwiches with vegetable toppings, echoing the guideline to limit processed meat and add more plant-based ingredients to familiar meals.
Yet the cooperative stresses that price remains the dominant factor in how people shop. More than half of S Group’s customers say they choose the cheapest available food products, a pattern that reflects tight household budgets and continued concern about the cost of living. For many families, following the nutrition guidelines depends on whether healthier options are affordable and widely available in discount ranges.
Fish, dairy and plant-based drinks show a mixed transition
The new guidelines do not focus solely on meat. They also encourage Finns to eat more fish and to be moderate in their consumption of dairy products, while leaving room for plant-based alternatives.
S Group reports that fresh fish sales have increased by around 8 percent over the past year. The retailer’s own-brand Kotimaista fish products now reach nearly half of its customers, indicating that more households are adding fish to their weekly menu, often in the form of relatively affordable domestic products.
On the dairy side, the picture is more mixed. Traditional milk sales have declined slightly, while plant-based dairy alternatives such as oat and soy drinks continue to gain ground. However, volumes of these plant-based drinks still lag far behind those of cow’s milk, and price-sensitive shoppers may hesitate to switch if alternatives remain more expensive on the shelf.
Overall, S Group’s data point to an incremental transition: consumers are adjusting some categories – especially tofu, beans, fish and fresh produce – but rather than abandoning meat or dairy, many are experimenting with blended patterns that combine animal-based and plant-based options.
Why Finns eating less meat matters for health, climate and policy
The trends in Finns eating less meat and choosing more tofu and plant-based proteins matter beyond individual shopping baskets. As Finland’s largest grocery group, S Group accounts for close to half of the country’s grocery retail market, meaning that its sales statistics offer a broad snapshot of everyday consumption.
From a public health perspective, a gradual reduction in red and processed meat combined with higher intake of vegetables, fruit and legumes is consistent with international evidence on preventing cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers. For Finnish health authorities, seeing these patterns reflected in retail data can indicate that the guidelines are beginning to influence behaviour, even if only partially.
From an environmental angle, the updated Finnish recommendations echo the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations and the EU’s Farm to Fork agenda, which both promote diets that are more plant-based and less reliant on resource-intensive animal products. Even modest shifts – such as replacing some beef with poultry, tofu or beans – can lower the climate and biodiversity footprint of food consumption when scaled across millions of shopping trips.
At the same time, the figures underline the limits of dietary policy when economic pressures are strong. If more than half of customers primarily choose based on price, the success of nutrition guidelines will depend heavily on how retailers, manufacturers and policymakers ensure that healthy and sustainable options are competitively priced and present across all store formats, not just in premium aisles.
For Finland and the wider Nordic region, the current changes suggest that updated nutrition policy, strong supermarket cooperatives and price-conscious consumers are jointly shaping a slow but notable shift in everyday eating habits. Whether this shift accelerates will likely depend on future income trends, food price developments and how clearly the health and climate benefits of plant-rich diets are communicated to shoppers in the coming years.
