4 The editorial.
We shall not make fools of ourselves. The food branch is very sensitive to criticism. Incidents we are not responsible for can destroy our reputation. Such incidents are fragments of glass in foodstuffs, bird- and swine influenza, BSE. But we can influence the development at home.

The consumers are used to that the food they purchase in their store is of high quality and safe, and this confidence we must keep. Therefore shall we continue our good cooperation with the stores so that the consumers don’t have any cause to blame us, stresses chief editor Veli Saarenheimo and wishes everybody a good autumn.

6 The Finnish Meat Trade Association assembled in Vanajavesi.
Seppo Korpeala continues as chairman for the Finnish Meat Trade Association that celebrates next year its 75 years anniversary. The tightening economy and the changing operational environment are the greatest obligations during next period. The statutory summer meeting of the association confirmed the plan of action, the budget and the membership fee. The most important targets are to grant the competitiveness of the members, to present information and offer training of high quality. Jaana Husu-Kallio, Director General at the Finnish Food Safety Authority EVIRA, reported on the information of food control and pointed out that the control depends on the auto control. Director Minna Kurunsaari from Kesko Food stressed that the employees must understand changes and new directives and that they must be used daily. She also declared a challenge:

- Of all families only 10 per cent consist of 4 persons, households consisting of 1-2 persons represent 73 per cent. Take that into consideration when developing your products!

12 It is worthwhile to serve locally produced food.
Several first-class restaurants serve food prepared of locally produced raw materials. Season delicacies and locally produced meat products are popular. “Province menus” help restaurants and small producers to find each other and to polish their cooperation.

16 The meat branch dives more gently than the national economy.
Entrepreneurs in the meat branch have been cautious during the recession that now has lasted for about one year. Several entrepreneurs have put nearly all investments on ice.

- At the moment it is very difficult to take out a loan even when one can give

security, establishes Juha Salonen, md at Yrhö Wigren. He tells that this year they invest only in repairs. Usually the company invests 100 000 - 200 000 euro, this year only 30 000 - 40 000 euro and refrains from investing in a new slicing and packing line. As the banks not easily grant a loan the companies can today address Finnvera plc that is a specialized financing company owned by the State of Finland. Finnvera provides its clients with loans, guarantees, venture capital investments and export credit guarantees.

20 The meat grinder.
Same tax for food sold in shops and in restaurants. When drawing up the budget the government decided to level out the tax on foodstuffs sold in shops and in restaurants. From July next year the tax will amount to 13 per cent. In 2010 the tax on sweets and lemonades comes again into force. The table of the month shows the production, consumption, import and export of cattle, pork, lamb, broiler and turkey during the period January-July 2009. The activities of the Finnish Food Information Service are cut down. The board of directors of Finfood - Finnish Food Information Service, decided to concentrate the means of the association to the Swan mark and to cut down other activities of Ruokatieto. Projects that are going on will be completed. In the year 2010 the association will have four employees and the position of the Swan Flag will be strengthened. The consumers like the mark as it tells them that a product is of Finnish origin. Saarioinen introduces HoReCA –novelties. Saarioinens novelties this autumn are Rainbow Trout Filling, Light Bologna Sausage, Chicken Bar and Padini - Italian filled bread that can be roasted. The breads are baked on spelt flour and filled with ham-pepperoni, broiler-mozzarella, tomato-olives. HK-Ruokatalo reduces the use of plastic packages. HK-Ruokatalo renews their cold cuts packages and thus reduces their packaging waste by 59 %. In Denmark the green trend is growing, in France grows the use of ecological products. In Denmark one plans to double the areas of ecological plantation in cooperation with several ministries. Minister Eva Kjer Hansen who answers for food, agriculture and fish matters promises a yearly subsidy of 350 million Danish kronas (about 47 million euros) to increase the ecological production.

- Above all we will increase the production of ecological apples, carrots, milk and salami, explains the minister. The agricultural and fish minister of France Michel Barnier tells, that the goal in France is to treble the ecological production already this year. The meat technologists met in Seinäjöki. The educational days of the meat technicians’ takes place in Seinäjoki the 30 of October. Themes of the year are internationalization, technology and education. Riitta Niiranen activates the meat producers. When Master of Science Riitta Niiranen was chosen to lead the educational project ”Growth in Meat Poduction in the Province of Häme” it has get off for a good start. Niiranen can in her work use the knowledge she has got when working on her parents farm were they breed beef cattle. The most important goal of the project is to improve the competitiveness of the farms and the cooperation between producers and slaughterhouses. The recipe of the month: Cabbage-broiler gratin.

24 The recommendations for responsible marketing communications of food and beverages are improved.
The member companies of the Finnish Food and Drink Industries Federation have from the beginning of this year taken into use the revised recommendations for responsible marketing. The recommendations present the common pattern of the way of thinking in EU and serve as a guide for companies in the voluntary self-regulation. They emphasize truthfulness of marketing communication, the promotion of healthy ways of life and the authority of parents. Companies should also take into account children abilities and judgment at various stages of development to assimilate and interpret the information and message of media.

26 Food for Life Finland.
In Europe and also in Finland big sums are yearly invested in food research and several reports and accounts are published. Unfortunately the new knowledge does not always reach those who can benefit from it. In EU one is aware of this problem and therefore one has founded so called technology platforms that work in two directions. On the other hand they inform about research projects that are financed by EU, simultaneously EU gets information about future research projects.

ETP Food for Life Finland is a co-operative platform between Finnish and other European actors among the Food Sector. This platform facilitates the contacts towards main European Technology Platform (ETP Food for Life), and also towards national platforms of different European countries. The fundamental aim is to take the ideas and proposals of the Finnish Food Sector better into consideration at EU-level decision-making. The financing actors of this platform are Sitra- the Finnish Innovation Fund, Tekes- Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, the Finnish Food Research Foundation and Finnish Food and Industries´ Federation. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland takes care of the administration of this internet-site and the arrangements of related workshops and events.

Appointments. Master of Science (agriculture) Riittan Niiranen has from the beginning of August been appointed to lead the educational project ”Growth in Meat Production in the Province of Häme”. Seija Pietilä has per 1.9. 2009 been appointed to Atrias Chief of Human Resources. Kari Tillanen has per 14.9. 2009 been appointed director at HK Ruokatalo. Hannu Kyyhkynen has been appointed advisor at the Association of Finnish Technical Traders and Advisor and Trade Policy at the Finnish Commerce Federation. Tero Hemmilä has per 1.1. 2010 been appointed Md at Yara Suomi.

28 Bio energy is a new challenge.
Slaughterhouses produce yearly over 200 000 ton by-products but only a fraction ends on dumps. Nearly all by-products and waste are recycled. A remarkable part of the live weight of animals consists of by products: cattle about 45%, pig and poultry over 35 %. Most of the by products are not suitable as raw material for foodstuffs and are sent to destructive institutions or as feed to fur animal farms. Internal organs and blood can be used in the food, cosmetic and drug industries. The by-products are classified into three classes:

Class 1: waste that can cause BSE-infection, hormones and poisons.

Class 2: dead animals that do not fit in class 1, dung and the contents in the guts.

Class 3: By-products from animals that are used in the food chain but cannot be used in food products: cloves, horns, bones, stomach and lungs.

In Finland one promotes the establishing of landfill gas plants. In several countries the production of landfill gas is growing rapidly. In Denmark a considerable amount of the manure and waste from slaughterhouses are handled in landfill gas plants. In Germany there are small landfill gas plants in the vicinity of pig farms and slaughterhouses.

31 Saarioinens Italian breads are a success story.
Saarioinen introduced during autumn 2008 Piadini - “Italian breads” - that can be roasted. The product has been a great success. Saarioinens share of the convenience food in the retail trade is about 45 %.

- In our product development we focus on our consumers and on everyday food, tells marketing chief Ritva Mäenpää at Saarioinen.

The process was difficult because a new production line must be built.

- The popularity of the product surprised us, the sales were three times bigger than we hade hoped for. Luckily the suppliers of raw and packaging material were flexible and there were no interruption in the delivery, explains product manager Mirja Lonka.

34 Mincemeat sauce is the favorite.
In Finnish households traditional dishes are most popular. The most ordinary dish is the mincemeat sauce and the most popular are the meatballs. Popular are also broiler dishes and fried fish. Meatballs are more popular than steaks and the popularity of pizza has declined. Fish dishes are popular among young women and in families with children older than 15 years. The most popular dishes 2009 are meatballs, steaks, fried fish, pizza, macaroni casserole, mincemeat sauce, fish roasted in oven, warm sandwiches, lasagna and omelet’s. The inquiry was ordered by Finfood- Finnish Food Information Service and realized by TNS-Gallup. 1076 persons over 15 years of age answered the inquiry.

36 Food service changed to refrigerated handling and conveyance.
Seniors in Lemvig chose today among 30 dishes and eat when it suits them. In Lemvig municipality in Denmark they stopped to prepare food in 2008. Today the seniors get cold food, vacuum-packed in trays.

- Our senior citizens can chose among 30 main courses and 15 first courses and desserts. We can serve food for diabetics, those who have difficult to chew, and those who prefer small portions, explains head housekeeper Kaja Hornstrup.

Food is delivered once a month and prepared of the best raw materials. It is rapidly chilled, packed in plastic and can be heated in oven or in micro-oven. This new mode of operation saves yearly about 1,5 million Danish crowns.

– We save in transports but also we use half of the water amount and washing agents, thus reducing production costs and saving the environment. We work a normal working week, and we don’t work during weekends and on holidays, explains a content Kaja Hornstrup.

38 Hired labor is a topic of conversation in Germany.
In Germany it is common to hire labor. The food industry comes every now and then to contract agreements with companies, chiefly from eastern Central Europe. In Germany hired labor is still a politically delicate topic in spite of the fact that the situation has changed since the year 2000 when underpaid, illegal labor from East Europe caused animated discussions. Today there are in Germany two different models of flexible labor.

Traditionally hired labor: From a German personnel company an enterprise can hire workers who come mostly from Germany but also from England, Italy and Portugal. The workers and their foreman are employed by the personnel company which attends to wages, social security contributions and labor agreements.

Work done as piecework. A company offers work to for instance a Polish meat entrepreneur that comes with his workers and foreman and does the work in the premises of the ordering company. The Polish entrepreneur attends to wages and social security contributions according to Polish regulations.

In Germany contract agreements are customary in the meat branch as it is difficult to get skilled workers to the slaughterhouses and debuting units. In Eastern Europe there is skilled workers and the piece workers come mainly from Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.

40 Westfleisch goes in for customer service, quality and honesty.
In the small town Coesfeld near the Dutch boarder is the Coesfeld meat center that belongs to the Westfleisch Concern, Germans third biggest and Europe’s fifth biggest meat processing entrepreneur. In the year 2008 the concern slaughter over six million swine and provided its customers over 800 000 tons swine-, beef- and calf meat to over 30 countries. The Concern employs over 5 500 persons. According to Md Christian Leding, the success is due to the confidence of the consumers, the quality, service and flexibility and the rapid ability to react.

42 Those who do long working days must have proper meals.
Nakki Oy serves a tailor-made catering service to a narrow sector. Actor and director jobs are hard and the work pace is intensive.

- The work taxes the physics. On the production places there must be good and nourishing food, tells Meri-Tuuli Lindströrm, Md at Nakki.

Nobody involved in the filming can leave the place of shooting, everything that is needed must be where the film is produced.

- Our staff must use their intuition. If the weather is hot they must be arable to offer ice cream to everybody. And of course they must be able to serve coffee no matter when, stresses Lindström.

42 Index of services

54 The column.
The columnist Sakari Nupponen, editor at the evening paper Ilta-Sanomat, establishes that delicacies enjoyed abroad does not always taste delicious when eaten at home. The same concerns beverages. Foodstuffs are good presents to bring back from a trip but sausages are difficult to transport longer distances.

- Canned Bavarian Weisswurst makes the mouth water. Should we can our delicious blood sausage, the black sausage, asks Sakari Nupponen.

55 Facts on meat.
Markus Yli-Hemminki from the Finnish Meat Research Institute informs about slaughter. The animals must be inspected before and after slaughter. The quality of meat depends on how the animals are treated before slaughter. The hygiene in the slaughterhouse must be of highest quality. All stages and all equipment must be disinfected after each carcass. Bleeding, hide pulling and gutting must be done extremely hygienically. The carcass is chilled immediately after slaughter and the temperature must be kept as near +- 0 degrees as possible.

Translation: Nina Hackman.