The two figures
In chocolate, Türkiye was the sixteenth source of Finland's imports — about half a per cent of a market worth roughly two hundred and forty-five million dollars. Small. But the unit value of what actually arrived was about twenty-four and a half dollars a kilo, the highest figure among the leading sources, and well clear of Italy behind it or of Sweden and Germany, which supply most of the shelf at single figures.
In sugar confectionery the position reverses: ninth source, around two and a half per cent of a hundred and forty-seven million dollar market, at roughly eight and three-quarter dollars a kilo. Still above the field, but a different kind of position — an established one.
What a high unit value at a low share means
Read together, the two lines describe a market that is not buying Turkish chocolate for price. Half a per cent at the top price is not a commodity position; it is a specific one. Somebody is bringing in the pistachio and kadayıf end, the gift box, the filled bar — not the cheap tablet.
That is worth saying because it settles an argument before it starts. A Finnish buyer who asks us to compete on a plain milk tablet is asking for the one thing this trade lane does not do well. The lane is already carrying the specific end, and it is carrying it at a price the figures can see.
Confectionery is the settled half
Ninth source with a two and a half per cent share is a different conversation. In sugar confectionery — lokum, dragées, gelled sweets, sugared almonds — Turkish product is not a novelty on the Finnish market and does not need to be introduced. The question there is format and consistency rather than acceptance.
This is also the half that fits the Finnish trade's own shape: the pick-and-mix wall, irtokarkit, is bought by the carton, and the pre-packed bag, the karkkipussi, is the same product counted differently. Both come out of the same container.
What that suggests for a first load
A first mixed container into Finland usually carries more confectionery than chocolate by weight, and more chocolate than confectionery by value. The chocolate lines that earn their place are the specific ones: pistachio and kadayıf bars, filled tablets, boxed assortments, the pistachio spread jar. The confectionery lines carry the volume: bulk cartons for the wall, lokum in retail boxes, dragées and coated nuts.
The mix is set per line in the offer, with the minimum stated per line, because the unit of production is the line and not the container.
The figures that are not on this page
Two kinds of number are deliberately absent. Duty rates and tariff figures are not published here because they change; the offer states the tariff line and what applies on the day. And we do not publish shelf life, certificate numbers or a standing lead time — those come per line with the offer.
One caveat on the trade figures themselves: what Türkiye reports as exports to Finland and what Finland reports as imports from Türkiye do not match, and they never do. Freight terms differ on each side and part of the flow arrives through a third country. The figures above are Finland's own import record, because that is the market the buyer is standing in.
What to send
Send the references, the quantity per line, and whether you are buying for a retail shelf, for repacking into the pick-and-mix wall, or for food service. The written offer follows within two working days in US dollars or euro, with, the minimum per line, and the transport regime for each range. Samples go before the container.
Is Turkish chocolate common on the Finnish shelf?
Not as a share: it was the sixteenth source of Finland's chocolate imports on the most recent full year, around half a per cent. But it arrived at the highest unit value among the leading sources, which points to the specific end of the range rather than the everyday tablet.
Why do Turkish and Finnish trade figures disagree?
They always do. Each side records the value on its own freight terms, and part of the flow arrives through a third country. We quote Finland's own import record here, because that is the market you are buying into.
Which lines make sense in a first container?
Usually confectionery for volume — bulk cartons, lokum, dragées, coated nuts — and chocolate for value: pistachio and kadayıf bars, filled tablets, boxed assortments and the pistachio spread jar. The mix is set per line in the offer.
