finnish cucumbers! (and SIWA again)

oompah18 · Post by **oompah18** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 8:58 pm

How sad is my life right now that I can actually sit down & write this? BUT I was wondering if anyone had noticed the strange pricings of Finnish cucmbers lately. In our Nowheremäki´s lone shop, SIWA, they are a hefty 4.49eur a kilo, but in LIDL they are 1.79, & in S-market in Nekala last weekend, they were a mere 1.49 a kg! I was surprised not only at at the huge price difference between SIWA & the others, but more surprised at the other shops´ prices really, as I didn´t expect Finnish cucumbers to be so easily grown that they can be so cheap right now - more like summer prices!!!
Also more strange things I notice about SIWA, that the pricing of the same items differes from branch to branch (guess whose branch seems to be the most expensive of all

) & that when they have offers saying "previous price so-and-so, new, lower price this" the previous price they mention is usually lower than the previous price in my local!

So OK, this might seem insignificant to most of you, but when you have a small family income, & sometimes you have about 5 eur left to feed a family of 5 for a week, you DO notice little things like these.
Allie, VERY impatient now to get back to work, just to survive......
Oh dear, just reread this & you would never guess I was native English speaker - having a bit of a bad day grammatically

**Sponsor:**

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 9:59 pm

My value-added suggestion would be: don't eat cucumbers. Fresh water is free (from the tap) and the nourishment value is about the same.

But I agree.... never understood the cucumber thing either. My French friend in Kerava and I used to compare cucumber prices over the phone. What confused me was that so many people are actually willing to pay big money for Finnish cukes. 'Cos quite honestly the carbon footprint of a Finnish cucumber (or tomato for that matter) must be twice that of Dutch or Spanish ones this time of year. And not sure I could pass the blindfold test on this one.

Anyway, there was an article about Finnish cucumbers (from Kirkkonummi) in today's Hesari but I haven't got round to reading t yet. Maybe it answers all your questions. Anyone read it?

oompah18 · Post by **oompah18** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 9:24 pm

while we are on to Valintatalo, I had noticed that they were the same sort of thing as Siwa, but more variety & cheaper. Doesn´t seem right to me that they are the same company as Siwa, stocking essentially the same goods, same brands, but cheaper than Siwa. Especially as the only 3 shops 10km or less from here are all Siwa!

Ah, well, such is life. But the Octobertime bonus, based on BonusCard points, seems ok for me, as they send you a voucher (we got more than 150 euros last time if I remember

) & as long as you buy one item, no matter how small, they will give you the change in cash. THAT is really nice.
Anyway, maybe we should just stick to lettuce instead

Allie (not so slim from eating cucumber, but rather with a "pulla" tummy

)

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 9:37 pm

I can't imagine life without a Prisma and a Citymarket within walking distance. Within 10kms I have SEVERAL Prismas, Citymarkets, Lidls and a ton of "little" shops like Siwas and S and KKs and stuff like that. I have THREE major hypermarkets within walking distance (2-3kms) from our house (2 Prisma and 1 Citymarket). So I guess the pricing is more competitive down here.

I wrote this for another forum.... if you want to compare, it's all from K or Citymarket this week:

1.5 l de milk kevytmaito 1,26 euro
Finish (dishwasher powder 3 kg) 5,95 euro
Valio 3 hedelmän mehu 1,5l 2,49 euro
tomaattimurska 400g 0,45 euro
Mysli Euroshopper 454g 1,09 euro
Butter Ingman 500g 2,69 euro
Raclette cheese 400g 6,20 euro
Tuore lohifile kasvatettu 16,90 /kg
Margariini 500g 1,49 euro
Perunat 2kg suomi 1,49 euro
Porkkana 1kg suomi 0.99 euro
Cucumber (Holland) 1,14 euro
6 eggs luomu 2,09 euro
2 Fazer Runebergin torttu 1 euro (special offer!

)
Grillibroileri 5,90 euro
kevätsipulinippu 1,49 e
Pasta bio fusilli makaroni 550g 1,55 euro
Apples Granny pour 2.58 euro (but can't remember the weight???)
Fazer Ranskalainen patonki 1,15 euro
Fazer vaalea sämppäri 6 kpl 1,29 euro
Oululainen Reilu vehnälesele 1,39 euro
Pasta Barilla penne rigate 500g 1,25 e
Jääsalaatti suomi 1,99 e (

)

DMC · Post by **DMC** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 10:14 pm

I can't imagine life without a Prisma and a Citymarket within walking distance.

I had to chuckle at that. Our nearest shop (a small village store) is 9km away. The nearest alternative is 27km. Yet we consider our location to be rural rather than remote.

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 10:33 pm

And I don't consider myself to be an "urban" dweller as such... we have ducks, pheasant, squirrels, raccoon dogs and foxes in our garden (daily) and regularly spot deer when walking the dog. There is a cross-country ski track at the back of our yard (but unused this winter). We are surrounded by trees and are only a short bike-ride from the beach. I think it used to be possible to walk through Central-Puisto into Nuuksio National Park but maybe not any more.

Mattlill2000 · Post by **Mattlill2000** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 11:00 pm

I had to chuckle at that. Our nearest shop (a small village store) is 9km away. The nearest alternative is 27km. Yet we consider our location to be rural rather than remote.

Our retirement home/cottage has the nearest store 30km. away. You have do with what you have but to me its still not remote enough.

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:37 am

Mattlill2000 wrote:
I had to chuckle at that. Our nearest shop (a small village store) is 9km away. The nearest alternative is 27km. Yet we consider our location to be rural rather than remote.
Our retirement home/cottage has the nearest store 30km. away. You have do with what you have but to me its still not remote enough.

But I guess you will "grow your own" and stick it all in the freezer and the maakellari for the winter! Yes, it is nice to live away from all the shops but right now with three teenage boys to feed (and they all eat non-stop all day).... argh! I seem to shop nearly every day. 2 dozen eggs every week, 2-3 litres of milk every day, 2 loaves of bread per day, bananas and apples disappear into thin air. Luckily we have all the meat we need in the freezer.

Mattlill2000 · Post by **Mattlill2000** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 9:21 am

......and the Mrs. will insist on growing the Finnish Cucumbers!

DMC · Post by **DMC** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 10:54 am

But I guess you will "grow your own" and stick it all in the freezer and the maakellari for the winter!

In theory, yes. In practise my prowess as a gardener is, shall we say, questionable and output is rather low.

DMC · Post by **DMC** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:01 am

And I don't consider myself to be an "urban" dweller as such... we have ducks, pheasant, squirrels, raccoon dogs and foxes in our garden (daily) and regularly spot deer when walking the dog.

It is remarkable how many places in Finland are close to both wildlife and city life. In many ways it is possible to "have your cake and eat it too". Much better than in the UK, for example, where you usually have to choose one or the other. Even so, I agree with Matti: I prefer more remote locations, given the choice.

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:08 am

I feel so lucky I am living in a burb, on a lake, and walking across the parking lot is a KK-market. Which has still a "lihatiski"... they had someone not so talented working on the veggie section for a while, but now I can't complain at all. Maybe the prices are a bit silly at times, but then again I appreciate it being *right there*. Maybe only minus is they're closed on Sundays. I also have a Prisma across from the office, they demolished half of it now and are building a shopping hell there, so I pop over at lunch or as they opened at 8 before I go too the office to do my shopping. And now they're building a Lidl right on the way to work as well. Funny enough I frequent the S-market where I have my cottage, but the local one across the coming Lidl is... hrmpf... just not that nice. As is the KKK market I have a 5 minute walk "beyond the big road". Maybe if I'm looking for a bit more special herbs or such I'll walk over, but otherwise I've grown a habit into my shopping.

Then again close to my cottage... even the kioski is 5km away...

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:10 am

DMC wrote: I prefer more remote locations, given the choice.

Finnish people do too... but they chose to live in the city and act as if it was a remote location.
Just yesterday was a good article in the HS, about neighbours brawling over "nothing" except principle.

superiorinferior · Post by **superiorinferior** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 7:09 pm

rxonbladholm wrote: Anyone notice the latest scam at S-Market, Prisma etc? They changed the Customer service number to a 10 cents a minute plus initial connection service - and no one answers the phone before 30-40 minutes - so you can see your bonus fly away with just a couple of calls a month - plus your own time. What an easy way to make money - just put in an expensive pay phone system and don't answer the phone till you get enough revenue!

I think I have called a supermarket once in my lifetime. It was probably in 1985. What prompts so many phone calls to supermarkets that you have taken note of their pricing scheme for them?

Hank W. · Post by **Hank W.** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 7:49 pm

Must be some American thing...

...they need to call because they can't read and write?

/get me chalkboard

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