Finnish Grocers Report Record Sales of Vegan Ham

Sales of vegan meat, particularly ham, are booming in Finland this holiday season, according to local grocery chains and vegan meat producers. This year, supermarket chain Prisma—a brand of cooperative S Group—added vegan Christmas ham to its shelves for the first time. “We got a domestic brand this holiday season, so we wanted to make sure it was visible, and market it as a viable option for all consumers,” S Group product manager Juha Nieminen told media outlet Yle Uutiset. “It’s safe to talk about a breakthrough since sales of these products are booming across the country.” One local vegan company, Vöner, has sold 10,000 units of its Christmas “rotisserie” meat-replacer this year. “Retailers say our vegan rotisseries typically vanish from the shelves less than an hour after delivery,” Vöner CEO Siva Parlar said. In the fast-food sector, McDonald’s Finland responded to the growing plant-based trend by introducing the McVegan burger to all of its locations—a vegan burger that sold 150,000 units across the Nordic region within one month of launch.