The association told the prime minister and finance minister that there has been a 7 percent rise in foreign goods on supermarket shelves over the last year.

This means that a growing share of the food on store shelves in Estonia comes from abroad, while the share of Estonian products in exports is declining, said Sirje Potisepp, head of the Estonian Food Industry Association.

"According to a study by the Estonian Institute of Economic Research, 59 percent of staple food products are domestically produced. The same study shows that in many product categories, imported goods are cheaper, which encourages the replacement of domestic products with cheaper imports and private label goods," Potisepp said.

Potisepp also claimed that stores place cheaper imported products at the customer's eye line to draw attention, moving more expensive domestic goods or excluding them altogether.

"This practice reduces the visibility and market share of domestic products and promotes a preference for cheap imports," she wrote.

Price increases are making consumers more inclined to choose cheaper imported goods, which reduces production volumes for domestic producers, weakens companies' competitiveness, and puts the sustainability of Estonia's food production at risk.

Foreign goods pushing out domestic

An overview by the Institute of Economic Research shows that the share of foreign-origin conventional products on store shelves continues to increase, meaning domestic products are steadily losing market share and visibility.

This confirms that cheaper imports are pushing domestic products off Estonian store shelves and threatening the sustainability of our food production and food security.

In Estonia, food prices rose by 9.1 percent year-on-year. The sales volume of food stores declined by 4 percent. 

Eurostat data shows that between summer 2021 and summer 2025, a food basket increased by approximately 47 percent.

The Food Industry Association supports, in principle, all steps that help bring down food prices.

If this includes lowering the value-added tax, the association believes that the measure must be uniform and apply to all product categories to avoid market distortions and increased administrative burdens, Potisepp added.

ERR was unable to obtain a comment from Minister of Finance Jürgen Ligi (Reform) about Potisepp's letter.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!