Travel industry experts see grocery store tourism as one the most interesting phenomena this year. An increasing number of travellers want to experience authentic everyday life at their destination, and a grocery store built around local favourites offers an excellent opportunity to do just that. So Finland’s K-Supermarket has listed its stores on Tripadvisor, an idea by creative agency, United Imaginations. This is believed to be the first time in the world that a grocery store chain has listed multiple stores as tourist attractions on the platform, tapping into the fact that the most important channels for gathering information when planning a trip are search engines and travel review site.
Finnish grocery stores are becoming attractions as K-Supermarket, one of Finland’s largest grocery chains, lists its stores on Tripadvisor. With this move, K-Supermarket is embracing a growing travel trend: grocery store tourism. This is believed to be the first time in the world that a grocery store chain has listed multiple stores as tourist attractions on Tripadvisor, the world’s leading travel platform. The campaign includes tourist food tours.
An international study by Visit Finland shows that when it comes to food, travellers to Finland are particularly interested in local products and Visit Finland is actively developing food tourism with funding from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. The study also shows that Finnish food culture sparks curiosity among international travellers, but awareness of it remains limited. Germans and Japanese travellers are particularly interested in culinary experiences in Finland.
K-Supermarket stores offer an excellent opportunity to discover these, as each store is run by an independent retailer who tailors the selection to their customers’ preferences, with many stores sourcing products directly from local producers.
Every K-Supermarket builds its selection around its customers’ favourites and the products of local producers. For example, one retailer has rooftop beehives producing their own honey, while another offers an extensive range of craft beers or local breads. Many stores specialise in local berries, fish and meat, or cheeses from a nearby dairy. As a result, travellers can enjoy an authentic local experience right in a grocery store, noted Milla Sorsakivi, marketing director for K-Supermarket.
K Group’s grocery stores carry approximately 50,000–60,000 products from local and small-scale producers, and summer, alongside Christmas, is one of the peak seasons for the sale of local food products. Among local products, customers are particularly drawn to locally baked goods as well as vegetables.
K-Supermarket stores will be added to Tripadvisor in phases. In the first phase, large stores with a strong focus on local products in the Helsinki metropolitan area will be listed – K-Supermarket Kamppi and Mustapekka in Helsinki, as well as K-Supermarket Lippulaiva in Espoo. After that, stores from other parts of Finland will also be added to the world’s leading travel platform.
In the stores listed on Tripadvisor, local products are highlighted in displays and through in-store communication, helping travellers identify local items in the selection.
