4 The editorial. Chief editorial Veli Saarenheimo stresses that nowadays it is difficult to predict the future. Although the year 2008 has started well for the food branch it is difficult, and especially for the meat branch, to know how the economy will develop. The consumption of meat has grown by 5% compared with the consumption during year 2007. The consumption of poultry has grown most, with 13 %.
It is believed that the consumers in the future most often will choose convenience food and processed raw materials. Saarioinen is the leader in the branch of convenience food but both Atria and Snellmans Kokkikartano are in the future going in for ready-to-eat food. There are also several small entrepreneurs in the branch.
The competition within the branch will still grow. This is a European problem that our trade and industry have to deal with in order to be able to also in the future offer the consumers delicious products of high quality.

6 Osmo Laine tells us about the future of the trade. Osmo Laine is managing director of the Finnish Food Marketing Association. According to him operators with large volumes and well-organized logistics can be successful even in our sparsely populated country. Therefore can the chains in the food branch; the S-Group, the K-Group, Tuko Logistics and Lidl operate rather untroubled. Still we don’t feel any competition from abroad. When Lidl was established the branch feared changes in the food branch but the establishment of Lidl has proceeded surprisingly easy. Laine predicts that the food shops in Finland within 10 years will have free opening and closing hours and that they are allowed to sell wines and OTC-medicines.

10 How can we serve customers 50-65 years of age? The entrepreneur Konseptikehitys Kuule Oy has made an inquiry about the way of life of persons 50-64 years of age. They form an important group of consumers, in Finland 1,1 million persons. During the next few years this group will grow considerably.
Questions regarding health are for those people very important. They want to take care of themselves in order to be in good health also at an advanced age. They avoid carbohydrates, additives, sugar, salt, cholesterol and fat. They are aware of the dangers of smoking and alcohol. The target group can afford shopping but is not interested in shopping. Marketing is apparently aimed at younger consumers.

14 We have to invest in quality. According to the Finnish Foodworkers´ Union (SEL) the most important trend on the internationalised markets is to maintain the high quality of the Finnish meat. The union emphasizes a business culture that is ethically lasting when developing the Finnish meat branch whose characteristics should be a high quality.
- When we start operations in Baltic and Russia it is important to keep in mind that we treat the workers there in the same way as the Finnish workers. It is also important that there is enough skilled labour, above all in the production. That can be obtained by developing the branch. If young people are of the opinion that the branch is promising and interesting, they will go in for it, stresses Henri Lindholm, secretary of the union SEL.

16 Liha-Matti bought two lunch restaurants. The business Liha-Matti based in Espoo is renewing itself. Matti Karujärvi is the new chairman of the board and Jaakko Karujärvi the new managing director. The business was originally a wholesale trade in the meat branch but the operations are now diversified when the entrepreneur bought two lunch restaurants.
The operational possibilities for the wholesalers in the meat branch are decreasing. As late as in the 1970 –ties there were slaughterhouses in “nearly every town”. The slaughterhouses sold meat to wholesalers and they in their turn sold the meat to shopkeepers, caterings and the industry. Today a few big slaughterhouses dominate the branch. Every year there are bankruptcies. Due to the difficulty to get Finnish meat the industry has to a great extent begun to import meat.

20 Delicious sausages! What factors influence the consumption of meat? The favourable price and the origin of the products are the two most important aspects. When the consumers buy sausages the price is not as important as the taste. 97 % of the consumers eat meat and half of them eat meat daily. Men eat meat more than women. Only 9% of the consumers avoid meat, they are usually women under 25 years of age.

22 The meat grinder and the recipe of the month. In Berlin the fair “Grüne Woche“ was arranged 18-27.1. 2008. Over ten Finnish entrepreneurs took part in the fair. At the Finnish department 7000 Karelian pastries were baked and served. The visitors could also taste, reindeer products, eggs, rye and oat bread. “Grüne Woche” is one of the biggest food fairs of Europe and it is visited by about ½ million visitors.
From the beginning of this year breeders of swine and cattle can apply for subsidies in order to improve the well being of their animals.
Saku Koivu, our prominent ice-hockey star, has bought a big part of Perniön Liha. The company makes yearly a profit of one million euro and it has ten employees.
Stockmann has brought into the market a series of convenience meat “Meals Wellbeing”. The food is prepared in the kitchen of Stockmann and can be bought in the department “Delicatessen” or prepacked. There are 40-50 different meals. The product development has taken in consideration the amount and quality of fat and the quantity of salt. The consumers can chose among several alternatives: salads, meat-, fish-, broiler-, and vegetable dishes, soups and desserts.
The working team, appointed by the Minister of Economy Affairs, Mauri Pekkarinen, is suggesting a voluntary gm marking on meat products. The marking should tell that the feed of the animals has not contained gm-manipulated feed.
The recipe of the month is “Sailor´s beef”.

26 At the K-market Vuorinen they have confidence in their know-how. When Taisto Vuorinen in the 1970 -ties started as a shopkeeper he had a big advantage from his work as a deboner.
- The most important thing today is the same as in the 70-ties, the consumers must be satisfied. The product must fulfil the expectations of the consumer. K-Market Vuorinen is famous for its “pork days” that started in the 70-ties. The tradition is still alive and at most successful days meat from about 50 swine end in the baskets of the customers.

29 The food day is held in May. The yearly training occasion in the food branch takes place 6.5. 2008 at the Helsinki Fair Centre. Many items will then be discussed, for instance marketing, mastering of the delivery chain, product development and research, food legislation, auto-control, information, internationalisation, and the development of the HoReCa-sector.

30 The Siwa chain will get a new operational concept. Siwa is the most popular local shop chain in Finland with more than 540 shops. A survey made by TNS Gallup showed that the customers in big markets use 81 minutes while shopping whereas the customers in local shops use only 34 minutes. The survey showed also that the customers were of the opinion that a distance of 1,5 km to the shop is tolerable. Usually the distance is 2,3 km. The local shops are much more diversified than is generally believed. Families with children use the local shop as a complementary shop, for singles, couples and single supporters the local shops are important. The Siwa shops are nearly always open - 365 days a year - and today they also offer convenience food for sale.

31 The meat processing company West–Chark produces ecological sausages. The entrepreneur has also earlier produced products of ecological meat but the products have not been certified.
- We have earlier produced ecological sausages for sale on the local ecological farms. The new ecological sausage from Raasepori will be certified. It is produced of local, ecological meat from cattle, swine and lamb and it is rather coarse in structure. Various herbs give the sausage its special taste. At the moment we are choosing our collaborators among the producers, tells Jan Westman, managing director for West-Chark.
The products will be on sale in local shops and restaurants. Westman believes that there will be an increase in demand in the course of the year.

32 Account con Carne. An acute shortage on skilled labour threatens to destroy the possibilities of development of the whole meat branch. This development has started a counteraction. The Finnish Food and Drink Industries Federation (FFDIF) has during several years arranged training for teachers working in the educational institutions of the branch. Last October an information meeting was arranged about entrepreneurs in the food industry. 350 pupils and teachers from all over Finland attended it. The theme was “Account con Carne” a project that deals with the means of subsistence in the meat branch. The meat branch will stand up for its educational program. Pupils who have passed the nine-year compulsory school or the grammar school can pass examinations at a vocational school or take a degree at a university. Still the big question is; are the youngster interested in “Account con Carne”? Or will they go to other branches?

35 The Finnish consumers and institutional kitchens have found the cold-pressed rape oil. The biggest producer is the Kankaisten Öljykasvit Oy. They have a new plant were the production can be treblified. The capacity is needed because the demand on the Virgino rape oil grew last year by 15 per cent and on the Eco-Virgino 30 per cent.

36 Student Life. In Vik one can study and pass a bachelor’s degree. The students are very motivated and sure that the working life will match up to their expectations. Vik is well situated for studies, there are also the biology and microbiology located. In the future good knowledge of languages is needed because the branches are internationalising and many students will work abroad.

Appointments. Jarmo Lindholm has been appointed manager for the product development at the Atria-concern as well as member of the managerial body of the concern. He also continues as responsible for the marketing of the concern. Elina Yli-Karjanmaa has per the 2.1. 2008 been appointed planner of marketing at Atria. Kai Seikku, managing director for HKScan has been chosen chairman of the board for the year 2008 at the Finnish Food and Drink Industries Federation (FFDIF).

41 STC-Meat is rapidly internationalising. The STC-Meat group has enterprises in Estonia, Latvia, Sweden, Hungary and Brazil. The yearly turnover is 40 million euros. STC-Meat was founded in the year 1995 and has since then expanded rapidly. Yearly the firm imports to Finland about 1 340 000 kg beef. From New Zeeland it imports about 760.000 kg meat of lamb. The operations in the Brazilian slaughterhouses are supervised by EU-inspectors. Peter Rajalin, managing director owns 90% of the enterprise and sales manager Timo Kuusiaho owns 10%. One reason for the success is based on the fact that the firm has imported earlier unknown products.

44 Brazil is the largest farming country of the world. The enormous competitiveness of Brazil is partly due to a deliberate advanced research but the most industrialized country in South-America exports still raw materials. Last year this export amounted to 46 million dollars. Brazil is the world’s 5:th greatest country regarding population and area and its economy belongs to the ten biggest of the world. The economy of Brazil is slightly bigger than that of Russia. The most important commodity is soya and represents 10% of the export. Brazil is the biggest producer of sugar, coffee, orange juice, beef and poultry in the world. The production of pork is steadily growing.
But in Amazons a horrible destruction is going on. Today Brazil is considered as the 4-th greatest environmental contaminator in the world.

48 How are things at Multivac? The company, which is specialized in importing packaging machines, has gone trough a fabulous development. During the autumn and winter the enterprise has detached itself from Thomesco and moved to Kerava. During the last two years the turnover has doubled, thanks to new agencies.
- We want to become the market leader concerning packages of meat products, stresses Esa Harju, managing director at Multivac. In Russia the meat markets are in for big changes. Earlier meat and processed meat products were sold by weight in market-places. Now the prepacked products in the hypermarkets are rapidly gaining ground. Esa Harju has 15 years of experience of the Russian trade. Multipac has sold machinery of production to Finnish entrepreneurs working in the St:Peterburg area. At the end of the year 2007 Multivac Russia was established and it will tacke care of the operations on the other side of the border.

50 Index of services.

60 “My work.” Mikko and Matti Granlund were born into the meat branch. The mother of their grandfather, Aino Granlund, had restaurants in Helsinki during the 19th century. Mikkos and Mattis father, Ari Granlund, bought Kastens sausage factory twenty years ago and the enterprising spirit continues now in the forth generation, today producing liver sausages.
Five persons work in the family business, everybody has several tasks but the two brothers are responsible for the production.
- We weigh the spices with an accuracy of 2 grams, Mikko tells.
Their professional skill is based on training, experience and observations. One can develop into a skilled “Liver chef” by following and observing the production and doing the work oneself.
- Apart from following and observing one has to have a sensitive sense of smell and a developed taste and of course one has to be exact and patient, tells Mikko Granlund.

62 Eviras pages deal this time with cold cuts and cold meat. There are several different names for cold cuts and cold meat, and they confuse the customers. Evira has together with the Finnish Food Marketing Association specified the names.
1. Cold cuts of meat
2. Processed meat products
3. Cold cuts

64 The column of the month. The editor at Ilta-Sanomat Sakari Nupponen writes this time a light article about the several German influences and German restaurants in Helsinki. Above all he praises the rich assortment of sausages: Weisserwurst, Thuringer, Bratwurst and the delicacies Wellfleich and Leberkäse.

Translation: Nina Hackman