FDBusiness.com

HKScan, the leading Nordic food company, is making preparations to begin exporting pork from Finland to China. The Chinese and Finnish food authorities have newly signed an agreement allowing HKScan’s Forssa plant to prepare for launching exports to China. Exports are scheduled to commence during the first half of 2018

The export of responsibly produced Finnish pork to China is a significant milestone in HKScan’s export expansion efforts and in the execution of its newly revised strategy. It also bears witness to growing demand for food produced on Finnish family farms and the potential for export growth that this offers.

Jari Latvanen, president and chief executive of HKScan Group.

“The launch of Chinese exports is a great example of our From Farm to Fork strategy. We want to make daily life tastier for our consumers and customers – both today and tomorrow. Our promise is to deliver responsibly produced, high-quality, nutritionally sound food, from farm to fork, and now we have the chance to do this on the growing Chinese market,” says Jari Latvanen, president and chief executive of HKScan Group. “Finnish family farms are doing a world-class job, and we take pride in sharing their story with the world. Our commitment to superior quality and responsibility from farm to fork offers us a competitive edge and the opportunity to expand our export of value-added products on a significant new market.”

The launch of exports from Finland to China has involved extensive preparations with Finnish authorities. “We owe a debt to Finland’s decision-makers and authorities, who have been extremely helpful in supporting the export of Finnish food products – without their input, we would not have made it,” he adds.

HKScan products exported to China will be targeted at retail customers, industrial customers and the HoReCa sector. The initial goal is to export 3,000 tonnes of pork meat to China and to triple that volume by 2020. In addition to exporting pork, HKScan’s long-term goal is to initiate the export of poultry and other meat. A further goal is to launch exports to China from HKScan’s other home markets.

HKScan currently exports meat to nearly 50 countries. The company exports pork to many EU countries and outlying markets such as New Zealand and Japan. HKScan’s domestic meat raw material is sourced directly from approximately 1,100 Finnish contract farms.