The market must cater to minorities

Ramadan started on 23 September this year, and it ends
23 October. Most ethnic Swedes care little about this,
me included, because it is none of my business.

However, according to the Swedish newspaper Dagens
Nyheter, Ramadan is a feast for Swedish grocery
chains.  The article quotes representatives for Axfood
and Coop, two of the largest grocery chains in Sweden.

The persons quoted, Irene Seideman of Axfood and
Magnus Frisk of Coop,  both have names that imply that
they are ethnic Swedes. It is not such a wild guess
that they do not celebrate Ramadan.

But as a business, operating on a market, a grocery
chain cannot afford not to cater to Muslims, at least
not when Muslims represent large numbers (although
still a minority) in Sweden. For the same reason that
grocery stores in areas in Sweden with many Finnish
immgrants sell the Finnish Lauantai makkara ("Saturday
sausage", which  I recommend), they now sell beef
soup, chicken soup, dadles and baklava. The reason is
simple: there is a demand for it.

From my own experience, I know that you can buy halal
food in food stores in Oslo (a city with a large
Muslim minority), and eat Swedish-style pizza at a
restaurant in this city, because of the Swedish
minority here, creating a demand for it.

As opposed to politics, where a majority can oppress a
minority, in the market, that is too expensive.
Business cannot afford no to cater to minorities,
whether they are Swedes, Finns or Muslims.