Amazon Germany is an underutilized opportunity for Finnish food and beverage companies
Austria has proved to be the best market for Dried Buddy’s jerky products.
Germany is the fourth largest country importing Finnish food. In 2021, Finnish exports to Germany amounted to EUR 119 million. In 2021, German online retail also increased by 16% to EUR 87 billion. The strongest growth took place in food and beverages with an online retail value of EUR 4.5 billion. More than 46 million German consumers have already purchased products from Amazon. Business Finland’s Food from Finland program has discovered the potential of Amazon.de as a sales channel.
"Finnish companies typically seek shelf space in large German chains, such as Edeka and Rewe. A place on the shelf, however, does not guarantee that the product will sell if German consumers are not sufficiently familiar with the product. When making purchasing decisions, retail chain buyers want to be certain that the product will sell. It is now high time to take the growth of online retail into account," says Lili Lehtovuori, an advisor in the Food from Finland program at Business Finland's office in Austria.
Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomat started selling gluten-free and alcohol-free Kukko beer on Amazon.de in April 2021. The company created demand for the product through Amazon's internal marketing as well as on social media by directing consumers from discussion forums to Amazon. The product received excellent consumer reviews, and the return on investment for the advertising campaign was 15%.
"The demand on Amazon grew steadily, and the first full truckload was sold in a few months," says Laitila's Export Director Marko Mikkola.
"Before April, our sales in Germany were very small, and we hadn't joined the German container deposit scheme either, which is a prerequisite for growth in beverages in the local market. Now we have adopted the deposit scheme in our product packaging and we can use it on other channels as well to grow the Kukko brand and support sales on Amazon," Mikkola says.
"Through the Amazon.de marketplace, we have been able to test different product flavors and packaging sizes. It seems that blueberry powder is our biggest seller in Germany, and on Amazon, it sells in a considerably larger packaging size than in stores," says Sales Manager of Kiantama Eija Wall who sells Biokia berry powders to Germany.
So far, the increase in prices has not been reflected in Amazon sales or consumer buying behavior.
"On the platform, we can also sell products to other German-speaking countries. Austria has proved to be the best market for Dried Buddy's jerky products. Our product box of different flavors has gained great popularity in Austria, especially among outdoor enthusiasts and hikers," says Timo Lahti, CEO of Dried Buddy.
Amazon.de is a dynamic marketing and distribution channel for innovative specialty products
With a 53% market share, Amazon.de is clearly the first place of choice for the German online buyer. It has raised the bar for other online retail operators through its wide range of products, fast deliveries, and good customer service. Amazon has also increased its share of the grocery market to about 6%.
"Amazon.de is best suited to high quality specialty products, such as snacks, candies, superfoods, food supplements, and alcohol products. In general, German consumers are interested in clean, healthy, and sustainable consumer products branded in Finland," says Lili Lehtovuori.
Together with its partner Dash Retail, Business Finland's Food from Finland program helps Finnish food companies start selling their products on Amazon Germany. Dozens of food and beverage companies have already made their products available on the Amazon.de marketplace. Kyrö Distillery, Porokylän Leipomo, Helsingin Mylly, Panda, and Fazer sell their products through their own account on Amazon Germany. A dozen or so Finnish food companies operate through a distributor. According to Lehtovuori, opportunities for a much wider range of food companies exist.
The facilitated business model in a nutshell
The model developed by Food from Finland, Dash Retail, and Teamblue lists products on an account maintained by Teamblue, after which the products are delivered to Teamblue's warehouse in Germany. Teamblue manages the sales account and delivers the products to Amazon's warehouse as needed, while Dash Retail ensures that the products, pricing, packaging sizes, and marketing meet Amazon's requirements and best practices.
More information
About Amazon.de
Lili Lehtovuori
Business Finland
lili.lehtovuori (at) businessfinland.fi
+43 664 2545 289
Maria Arruda
Head of Communications
maria.arruda (at) businessfinland.fi
+358 400 933 913
Contact information for companies
Kiantama Oy
Eija Wall
eija.wall (at) kiantama.fi
+358 40 163 3613
Dried Buddy Oy
Timo Lahti
timo (at) kuivalihakundi.com
+358 45 127 2310
Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas Oy
Marko Mikkola
marko.mikkola (at) laitilan.fi
+358 50 410 2078
Business Finland's Food from Finland program introduces Finnish food companies to international buyers and strengthens Finland's image as a producer of high-quality food. The program encourages companies to develop new innovations and enter into partnerships with research organizations. www.foodfromfinland.fi
Business Finland is a Finnish public organization that provides innovation funding and internationalization services. It also promotes Finland as a travel and investment destination. The organization employs 760 advisers at approximately 40 locations world-wide and 16 locations in Finland. Business Finland is part of the Team Finland network. www.businessfinland.fi
