FDBusiness.com

The world’s most modern dairy snack plant has commenced operation at Valio Riihimäki in Southern Finland. The snack plant is the largest single investment in Valio’s history. Construction of the new snack plant began in 2014 and took about three years. The area of the plant building is approximately 20,000 square metres. The plant is a five-storey building and has an annual production capacity of around 120 million kilos.

The new facility uses the very latest equipment and technology, allowing Valio to get the best possible benefit from its unique R&D expertise. When it was first opened, Valio Riihimäki was the most modern dairy in Europe; and now, 50 years later, it is once again a pioneer. The new plant uses about 30% less energy per unit of production than the old factory.

In the first phase, the plant will manufacture products that are already familiar to Finnish consumers, such as the Valiojogurtti® series. Once the plant becomes fully operational, consumers around the world will also be able to enjoy a whole new kind of innovative snack products that are both healthy and delicious. New types of recipes for snacks will be used in the new plant. There are new ways to reduce sugar, and, for example, the protein or fat content of products can be varied in innovative ways. The plant meets the strictest quality standards.

Annikka Hurme.

“Innovativeness, a wonderful taste, and responsible manufacturing practices. These are the things that people expect from their snacks, and our new snack plant meets these needs,” says Annikka Hurme, chief executive of Valio. “The plant is a concrete example of how seriously we take our responsibilities, since many loss-reducing and natural resource-saving choices were made in its planning and construction. The new plant also combines Valio Riihimäki’s 50-year tradition of yoghurt manufacturing with the most advanced technology.”

“We at Valio believe in the future of responsible dairy production and profitable milk processing,” says Vesa Kaunisto, chairman of Valio. “The continued profitability of dairy farming is best ensured when the company they own, Valio, succeeds in a competitive field and, therefore, remains able to pay a good price to its shareholders through cooperatives. This modern snack plant makes us even more competitive, both in Finland and on the export market.”

Once the snack plant comes into operation, almost half of its production will be for the export market, for the time being largely Sweden and Denmark. However, in the future this will expand to other countries.