Nothing refreshes Finns during their brief months of summer warmth quite like a cone of frozen dairy or soy, and sales figures through the years comply with the national trend. This year, with a chilly start to summer, ice cream sales have dropped drastically compared to last year.
The story is the same for two of Finland’s biggest ice cream companies, as both Nestlé Finland and Unilever have reported slumps.
Unilever’s ice cream stands dot the streets of Helsinki. Satu Lempiäinen, who has operated ice cream kiosks for eight years, also says that street sales of the frozen treat have been struck a blow this year.
”Compared with 2013, sales at my kiosks have dropped by 30 percent,” she says. “On a bad day, a ten-hour sales shift may see as few as 1-3 customers. Then again, on heat wave days, kiosks may draw in more than 800 people.”
Appetite barely lost to candy tax
Finns cut down heavily on their ice cream consumption a few years ago, when a national sweet tax raised costs.
”We estimate that during 2011-2012 ice cream sales dropped by 20 percent throughout the country,” Johanna Sevón-Kievari from Nestlé Finland said.
Despite the drop, Finns are still a proud nation of ice cream lovers. Nestlé’s statistics say that the average Finn eats upwards of 10 kilograms of ice cream per year.
The only countries to top Finland in the ice cream race are Australia and the United States.
Update Jul7, 2014: Added info box on Finland's sweet tax.
