The sun is shining, and the week is warming up as the days go by. It's not summer yet, but ice cream kiosks, including one near Seurasaari island in Helsinki, are welcoming their first customers of the season.
There's no queue, but every now and then, someone buys a frozen treat.
Eeva Taimela, who lives in Switzerland, only purchases a bottled water, but says she has noticed the price of ice cream creeping up.
"Ice cream for me is a sort of luxury," she said. "If I had three young children and needed to buy ice cream for all of them, I would probably just get some cones from the store."
Vendors under pressure
Pauliina Jussila has been selling ice cream for over 30 years. She and her family operate several ice cream kiosks at different locations, including the one near Seurasaari.
"We calculated that the price of the ice cream we sell has increased by an average of about 28 percent in two years," she told Yle. "Everything has become more expensive. Cups, cones, napkins and everything else."
Jussila said she hopes she won't have to raise the price of a scoop beyond 5 euros, noting that 5.50 would seem like a lot.
"The general price level is now around five euros per ice cream scoop. Some vendors price it at 4.90 and some at 5.20. We thought about setting the price at 5.50 euros this summer, but we decided that five euros is better," she explained.
Budget cones
Getting your ice cream fix at the supermarket is no doubt easier on the wallet.
For a few euros, a store-bought litre of ice cream will yield many scoops, while a multipack of cones or popsicles is another option for satisfying a sweet tooth.
Espoo resident Katja Helenius said she has contemplated the price difference between store-bought and kiosk ice cream.
"Paying five euros for a single scoop can feel a bit steep, considering you can get a couple of litres of ice cream from the store for that price. But it's not like you're going to carry your own ice cream when you're out and about," she explained.
Eating an ice cream at Seurasaari is Jarmo Hirsto, who said that in the scheme of things ice cream price fluctuations were relatively small.
"Ice cream is a part of summer," he said, admitting that the cone he was licking wasn't his first of the season.
Finns have a taste for ice cream, with residents consuming over 12 litres of the milky treat on average every year.
