This year's Shrove Tuesday weather does not allow for sledding, but sales data from the past week shows that interest in traditional Shrove Tuesday foods remains strong. And it's not just whipped cream-filled buns (vastlakuklid) that are flying off the shelves. At Rimi, sales of smoked pork bones — used for making pea soup — were five times higher than usual, while sales of canned pea soup quadrupled.

"Just as people prefer ready-to-eat cream buns over those they have to prepare themselves, they also opt for canned soup instead of making it from scratch," said Marilin Jürisson, purchasing manager at Rimi Estonia.

While the most significant increase in demand has been for the most affordable dried peas — widely available at most Rimi stores — Jürisson noted that anyone hoping to buy smoked pork bones on Shrove Tuesday itself would need to get to the store early.

Selver has also seen a fourfold increase in sales of pea soup ingredients over the past week.

"Additionally, cream-filled buns remain very popular, as they are an inseparable part of this festive day," said Selver's communications manager, Mariann Järvela.

At Prisma, sales of dried peas have tripled ahead of Shrove Tuesday, indicating that many people plan to cook traditional pea soup from scratch this year, said Prisma's communications manager, Kertu Kärk.

She also noted that sales of smoked meat have surged by 40-80 percent in recent weeks and continue to rise as the holiday approaches. Despite high demand, none of these products have sold out yet, according to Kärk.

Sales of the traditional whipped cream buns, however, have been slightly more modest this year, which Kärk attributed to the unseasonably warm weather.

"Experience shows that the popularity of cream buns is closely linked to weather conditions. If there is snow on the ground and temperatures are below freezing on Shrove Tuesday, sales increase significantly because people associate them with traditional winter sledding," Kärk explained.

At Maxima, shopping baskets also reflect preparations for Shrove Tuesday. Sales of dried peas have remained consistently high in recent days, with total volumes several times above normal. Smoked meat sales have risen by 15 percent compared to the previous week.

According to Maxima, Tuesday will be the peak day for cream bun sales, though demand was already rising on Monday, when twice as many buns were sold as on Sunday. 

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