milk war rages in jyväskylä

helsingin sanomat - international edition - business & finance: "as a result of the fierce competition between hypermarkets in jyväskylä, the local stores started to attract customers with milk as the loss leader of choice. hence, the current price of milk in some stores is as low as one cent a litre."

"finnish milk cost four cents a litre in the supermarkets of citymarket, prisma, and miniman in jyväskylä, while euromarket priced its milk at 45 cents a litre."

"even though it is only a local phenomenon, the milk-war marks a change in the loss-leader rankings: all summer long the finnish supermarkets vied for customers with increasingly attractive prices on six-packs and 12-packs (known affectionately as "dachshunds") of medium-strength beer.

after the government’s tax-cuts on alcohol in march, which did not in fact greatly affect the price of beer, retailers slashed their prices, with the result that prices for twelve 0.33 litre bottles approached those of a six-pack before battle commenced. "