Growing season starts in varying weather - Apetit strives to produce around 35 million kilos of Finnish-grown vegetables

Apetit Plc, Press release 29 May 2020 at 12:00 p.m.

Apetit’s contract growers began the growing season by sowing at the end of April and the beginning of May. Sowing has progressed at a slightly slower pace than normal due to the challenging weather. Cold and damp weather has particularly affected the sowing schedule of peas.

“The timing of sowing is a precise business. Peas must be sown at exactly the right time, and we monitor it daily during the growing season. By doing this, we guarantee that consumers receive Finnish-grown quality products with great taste”, says Apetit’s Procurement manager Gunta Cirule.

Farming requires solid know-how and precise timing from sowing of seeds to harvest, in order to deliver only the best produce to the frozen food factory in Säkylä.

“At the moment we hope for warm weather, so the growing season really kicks off and we can offer good, clean food for consumers”, Cirule sums up.

The goal for this season is to produce around 35 million kilos of Finnish-grown vegetables.

With pest control nets against carrot psyllids

Apetit develops its Responsible Farming method’s guidelines constantly. Räpi experimental farm has a significant role in this development. One of the latest experiments at Räpi has to do with the repelling of carrot psyllid.

Carrot psyllid is a pesky pest, that greatly impairs the growth of carrots, thus weakening the harvest.  During previous growing season Räpi experimental farm and a few of Apetit’s contract growers tested pest control nets against this tough pest.

“We’ve seen good results with pest control nets, which is why many more contract growers are trying them out this growing season. By using pest control nets, we can avoid the use of chemical plant protection measures”, Cirule says.

Developing and implementing sustainable farming methods is one of the key actions of Apetit’s Corporate responsibility programme

Responsible Farming method’s guidelines guarantee quality and traceability

Apetit’s contract growers follow Responsible Farming method’s guidelines in order to ensure safe and quality harvest with sustainable methods. The guidelines include general cultivation principles, vegetable-specific instructions and quality, product safety and environmental control.

“Our contract growers take up plant protection actions only when necessary. Fertilization is also planned and implemented in a way that enables us to use only what is necessary for each plant, in order to minimize eutrophication”, says Gunta Cirule.

Apetit’s 140 contract farmers cultivate approximately 35 million kilos of Finnish-grown vegetables every year. Vegetables in Apetit’s Kotimainen-product family are 100 percent Finnish-grown.

For further information, please contact:

Sanna Väisänen, Director, Corporate Communications and Sustainability, tel. +358 10 402 4041

Apetit is a food industry company firmly rooted in Finnish primary production. Our operations are based on a unique value chain: we create well-being with vegetables by offering healthy and tasty food solutions that make daily life easier. We also produce high-quality vegetable oils and rapeseed expellers for feeding stuff, and trade grain on the international markets. Apetit Plc's shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. In 2019, Apetit Group's net sales were EUR 313 million. Read more at apetit.fi.