One of many Nordic area’s largest meals firms, Fazer, has signalled its intention to stop dairy manufacturing and deal with oat-based merchandise.

Fazer, which has web gross sales of €1.1 billion is a number one producer of oat merchandise within the Nordics.

Though it’s a comparatively small participant within the Finnish dairy trade, it has now confirmed that it’s contemplating discontinuing its dairy operations at its Koria manufacturing facility close to Kouvola, which employs 226 individuals.

It stated the transfer would permit it to focus “on its core enterprise and the execution of its plant-based technique”.

Fazer stated its dairy operations had been difficult due to “low volumes and excessive complexity in a class pushed by scale”.

Oat drinks

Final summer season it doubled the manufacturing capability of oat drinks on the Koria manufacturing facility and if its plans to stop dairy operations go forward, the manufacturing facility will solely deal with the manufacturing of oat drinks and different oat-based merchandise.

Kati Rajala, vice-president of Fazer’s non-dairy and dairy enterprise added:

“Bettering effectivity of our Koria operations is inevitable to safe our competitiveness. A attainable discontinuation of the dairy manufacturing would allow us to deal with our plant-based core enterprise, through which the Koria manufacturing facility performs an essential function sooner or later.”

The corporate which exports its merchandise to greater than 40 international locations and employs an estimated 6,000 individuals throughout Europe stated it’s “actively growing plant-based meals options of the longer term”.

Final 12 months the European Union’s (EU) promotional coverage inspired individuals to attempt extra plant-based diets. It additionally advocated that buyers ought to eat much less purple and processed meat and different meals linked to most cancers dangers.

Newest market information from the market analysis group Neilsen suggests the plant-based milk sector has recorded double-digit progress 12 months on 12 months.

This 12 months the European Fee has allotted €185.9 million in the direction of promotion actions “for sustainable and prime quality EU agri-food merchandise” within the EU and worldwide.

It additionally stated that to “encourage more healthy and balanced diets” greater than €19 million might be particularly earmarked throughout 2023 for the promotion of contemporary fruit and greens.