Second phase of Visit Finland's food campaign kicks off

Visit Finland has launched the second phase of its Have some Finnish food campaign, and this time it’s for singles. Finnish Dinner Date invites 16 international singles on four-day food trips to the Helsinki region and the Tampere area in Lakeland in February 2027. Each group of eight shares a dinner with two local Finnish singles, over Finland’s official tasting menus.

The idea comes from the sinkkukori, a pink shopping basket singles can pick up in some Finnish grocery shops to signal they’re open to meeting someone. A video about it by an influencer hosted by Visit Finland went viral, and the story was picked up by media including Fox News, Ouest France and The Times of India.

“Food is a natural way to bring people together. We wanted to build a new kind of food travel experience around the sinkkukori phenomenon, which has drawn international attention. The main thing isn’t finding a partner but experiencing Finnish food culture together with others. Above all, we hope the guests fall in love with Finnish flavours and want to come back to Finland,” says Heli Jimenez, Senior Director, Marketing at Business Finland at Visitfinland.fi.

The dinner experiences are the highlight of the trips, with menus designed to show off each region’s own food culture. The Helsinki region tasting menu is created by Adele Kinnunen, Head Chef at Café Savoy. The Lakeland menu comes from Henry Tikkanen, restaurateur of Ravintola Gösta at the Serlachius museum, who has represented Finland at the Bocuse d’Or. Both menus are based on a survey carried out at the start of the campaign, where Finns described the food traditions, ingredients and favourite flavours of their own regions.

Visit Finland launched Have some Finnish in spring 2026 to raise awareness of Finnish food culture abroad and attract new food travellers to Finland. Finnish food is still little known internationally, and the campaign’s media attention so far shows there’s interest in hearing more.

Finland is still less known as a food destination than its Nordic neighbours, which makes it a fresh addition for travellers who already know the region. The ingredients are a strong selling point. About three quarters of Finland is forest, and the country's Everyman's Rights allow anyone to pick wild berries and mushrooms almost everywhere. This makes foraged food is part of everyday Finnish cooking alongside wild fish and game. Local food experiences such as foraging walks or sauna evenings also combine easily with the nature activities travellers already book in Finland.

The Have some Finnish – Finnish Dinner Date campaign is building international awareness of Finnish food, and the regional dishes behind the official tasting menus – loved and selected by Finns themselves – are a ready source of ideas for new programmes. You’ll find them on the Finnish food culture page of the campaign site.

Visit the campaign site at FinnishDinnerDate.com.

Media can find the full details in the press release: Love at first bite: Finland invites singles to the world’s most epic dinner date.

Have some Finnish is part of the food sector growth programme funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, in line with the Finnish Government Programme.

Looking for authentic culinary experiences to try in Finland? Here's a selection of Sustainable Travel Finland labeled, uniquely Finnish food products and service providers from around the country.

Below you'll find a curated selection of articles and stories about Finnish food and culinary culture. To see all food-related articles, go to Visitfinland.com.