According to Ari Akseli, President of Kesko's grocery trade division, the positive development in K Group's market share is attributable to investments in three focus areas, namely quality, price, and the store network.

"These are areas we have worked systematically to improve. We and the K-retailers have made notable efforts to further raise the quality levels in our stores, which has been reflected both in locally-tailored store-specific business ideas as well as in our key departments of fruit and vegetables and bread," says Akseli.

Meanwhile, price has continued to play an important role for customers.

"We have introduced a special price programme to address the price-driven market. At the beginning of 2025, we made an notable investment and reduced prices on over 1,200 products. Customer flows have also been boosted by active campaigns and personalised benefits," says Akseli. 

As for the store network, the market share development continued to reflect the notable investments made by competitors in larger stores, while the network investments made by K Group only began to impact figures towards the end of the year.

"We opened 60 new or remodelled stores last year, but the network impact on our market share continued to be negative. In 2026, the impact is expected to be neutral, with investments made in the network supporting market share development gradually in upcoming years. We are investing €200-250 million in our store network annually," explains Akseli.

The net change in K Group grocery store numbers in 2025 was -11. The discontinuation of stores at Neste K service stations is estimated to have weakened Kesko's market share by slightly more than 0.1 percentage points in 2025.

K Group will continue to strengthen its three pillars this year

NielsenIQ data shows that the online grocery market continued to grow. For K Group, online grocery sales grew by 7.9% in 2025 and accounted for 3.9% of total grocery sales.

According to Ari Akseli, K Group's grocery trade will continue to focus on strengthening its three core pillars this year: raising store quality levels further,  updating and expanding its store network, and improving its price competitiveness.

"It's worth noting that the price programme and our network development are long-term efforts, and it will take time before we see the full results, which is why we continue our determined efforts in these areas also in 2026," says Akseli.