Comparing prices is tricky because tax systems and wage levels are different in different countries. However, since the Lidl chain is now established in Estonia, it is possible to make some comparisons.

Lidl came to Finland 20 years ago. When the first stores opened in 2002, Finns were suspicious of the low prices, the goods seemed dubious and many products were not accepted by Finns.

Inevitably, Lidl had to sell more and more Finnish products, as Finns prefer to buy local. In Finland, short check-out lines were also introduced in stores, so the chain eventually had to give in and switch to long checkouts with two check-out lines.

In response to consumer pressure, the chain also abandoned a much-maligned discount system that required activation to get a better price – now most discounts are automatically extended to loyalty card holders.

Lidl's price level intensified competition in the Finnish market and forced other supermarket chains to lower their prices. In Estonia, all this was known, and the chains already operating in the local market tried their best to protect their market share.

Estonian consumers, however, are price-sensitive, so at least in Tallinn's Lasnamäe district, Lidl does not have to worry about a lack of customers with constant queues at the checkouts.

When comparing prices, however, it is a bitter pill to swallow to know that in Finland, where wages are higher, some products are cheaper than in Estonia.

Strawberries and asparagus more expensive in Estonia

Vegetables are usually much cheaper in Estonia than in Finland. The cheapest loose potato this week costs 37 cents in Estonia and 85 cents in Finland. You can be satisfied. But the joy disappears when you look at the price of carrots. A kilo bag of carrots costs €2.29 in Estonia and €1.89 in Finland.

Cultivated blueberries are not an essential product, but sometimes you want a treat: in Estonia, a 400 gram package costs €6.99, in Finland the same package costs €4.99, this week with a special offer €3.49. Strawberries and asparagus are also more expensive at Lidl in Estonia than in Finland.

Strawberry jam is also more expensive in Estonia. A jar of exactly the same Maribel jam costs €2.39 in Estonia, but €1.69 in Finland.

Speaking of sweets, I also noticed that the same cookies are priced differently. In Estonia, Biscino butter cookies with milk chocolate cost €1.56, while at Lidl in Finland the same cookies cost €0.79.

When you get to the butcher's corner, your mind calms down a bit, although you can't really make a clear comparison because the composition of the products is slightly different. In any case, "Kodune" beef and pork mince is slightly cheaper in Estonia: €5.43 per kilo in Estonia, and €5.63 in Finland, but the mince sold at Lidl in Finland is domestic.

It is difficult to compare chicken products, so I took the most similar products. The Polish chicken fillet in Estonia sells for €3.29 per kilo, while Finnish home-made flavored chicken wings are €2.95 per kilo.

Cheese half the price in Estonia

The comparison of milk prices always annoys Estonian retailers and they start talking about fat percentage. In Finland, and in most of the rest of the European Union, normal drinking milk has a fat content of 1.5 percent, while in Estonia it is 2.5 percent. In Finland they don't sell milk in a plastic bag either, so let's leave that aside for the moment, even though it's really the cheapest. I compared the price of a liter of milk in a tetra pack: in Estonia this week Alma milk is €0.89, in Finland at Lidl a domestic litre of milk is also €0.89.

Finns often buy cheese by the kilo, while in Estonia cheese tends to be sold in small packets and sliced, but there are many special offers. A half-kilo package of Estover sliced Estonian cheese costs €5.98 at Lidl in Lasnamäe, while our Epiim cheese costs €5.89 per kilo at Lidl in Finland.

Alcohol in Estonia has long been enticingly cheap for Finns. Wine prices have long since converged, but beer is still a little cheaper in Estonia. A half liter of A-Le Coq Premium, for example, costs €1.59 at Lidl in Estonia and €2.24 in Finland.

High prices in Estonia are often blamed on the small size of the market.

Electricity is also more expensive in Estonia than in Finland, and this is reflected in the prices. There is also a small difference in the price of gasoline: some weeks the price is the same, but most weeks gasoline is 10-20 cents more expensive in Finland than in Estonia.

Hourly wage in Finnish Lidl almost €12

But let's compare the salaries of salespeople. The collective agreement of PAM, the Finnish service workers' union, stipulates that the least qualified salesperson should be paid at least €11.96 per hour in their first year of employment. Finland has a graduated income tax, so income tax on such a low salary is only a few percent. Thanks to strong trade unions, bonuses are added to wages, for example for evening and weekend work.

The job advertisement on Lidl Estonia's website offers a salary of €6.40 per hour.

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