Many Danes are shocked when they visit a supermarket in Greenland for the first time. They will discover that a punnet of cherry tomatoes can cost EUR 5. A cucumber can cost almost EUR 3. Greenland is the most expensive Scandinavian country. It has the highest cost of living. This is not because Greenlanders earn more than Danes. In fact, the average Greenlander makes 17% less than their Danish counterpart. Why is everything so expensive, then? To investigate, we visited Pissifik, Greenland's largest supermarket chain in the Northern Greenland town of Ilulissat.
Flying in iceberg lettuce
It is not unusual to see a cucumber selling for almost EUR 3 in Greenland. Or a head of iceberg lettuce for EUR 3.50. Here, fresh fruit and vegetables are, on average, twice as expensive as in Denmark. The reason for this is that most foodstuffs are transported to Greenland by ship or plane. The most, by far, comes by ship from Aalborg. This trip takes about two-and-a-half weeks. Products with short shelf lives are flown in. These include lettuce and other products. Prices then rise dramatically.
During the winter, ships also cannot enter the ports in various places in Greenland. This happened in Ilulissat, for instance, when there was too much ice in the harbour. No foodstuffs were supplied for two months. When a ship finally arrived at the port, the news spread like wildfire through the town. Within no time there was a long queue of people waiting at Pissifik. When there is a problem with delivery, all sorts of products are sold at extremely high prices. This is why there is a form of rationing at times, to prevent customers from hoarding the products.
Despite the high cost of living, the Greenlanders have one advantage over the Danes. For those who like fresh fish or whale and seal meat, it is 17% less expensive in Greenland than in Denmark. In fact, many Greenlanders catch these products themselves.
Source: www.dr.dk