Fazer opens a shop in the Lappeenranta harbour
Fazer responds to the wishes of the city's residents by opening a shop in a historic building located in Lappeenranta harbour in early summer. The core of its selection will be locally made products, with other Fazer products included to complement the offering. With the opening of the shop, Fazer celebrates the anniversary of confectionery production in Lappeenranta and the 375-year history of the city of Lappeenranta.
In early summer, Fazer will open a shop in the old pair of buildings in the fortress located in the Lappeenranta harbour at Satamatie 15-17. The shop has been designed in close cooperation with the City of Lappeenranta, and its operation will be tested in a pilot project, which will in the first phase run until the beginning of 2025.
"Lappeenranta has been one of our hometowns for over 30 years, and residents have been hoping for a Fazer shop here for years. Now is the time to respond to these wishes and to test the appeal of the store and the interest towards it," says Tom Lindblad, Head of Fazer's Candy business unit.
In addition to confectionery and chocolate products, the offering will include other Fazer products, such as bread, porridges and muesli. However, the heart of the shop will be the sweets made locally in Lappeenranta and their stories. "We were really excited when the city suggested the historic building on Satamatie. Already at this stage, it is easy to see that the entity will certainly become attractive to both residents and tourists. Locality will be visible in the shop in different ways, and together with other operators in the area, we will be able to create experiences for visitors," Lindblad continues.
The building itself is beautiful as candy and part of Lappeenranta's history. The protected two-part building was completed in 1915 as a laundry room and sauna for the Lappeenranta fortress. During the Winter War and the Continuation War, the building housed the Finnish Army Engineering Workshop. The ownership of the building was later transferred from the Finnish Defence Forces to the City of Lappeenranta, and it has served as a car repair shop, foundry and harbour office, among other things. In the pilot phase, Fazer has agreed to lease the building until the beginning of 2025.
Tuomo Sallinen, acting mayor of the city of Lappeenranta, warmly welcomes Fazer’s store, both on his own behalf and on that of the residents.
“Fazer is an important partner to the city as it produces both confectionery and bakery products here. This much-desired shop will be an excellent addition to the appeal of the area around the harbour and the fortress”, Sallinen says. “I’m confident that the shop will become a new attraction for the city and that it will positively contribute to the vitality and atmosphere of Eastern Finland.”
Anniversary of confectionery production
This year marks 90 years since industrial confectionery production began in Lappeenranta at what was then the Chymos factory. Fazer's era began in 1993 when Fazer acquired Chymos. Traditional confectionery brands, such as Marianne, who turns 75 this year, have been well taken care of in Lappeenranta, and the confectionery factory, which employs nearly 400 people, also produces sweets for export around the world. The factory focuses on the production and packaging of fruit sweets, marmalade, liquorice, salmiak and oat xylitol products. The factory's largest products in terms of production volumes are Re-mix and Tutti Frutti. Classic products include Marianne, Pihlaja, Fazerin Parhain, Kiss-Kiss, Tyrkisk Peber and Green Jellies.
In addition to the confectionery factory, Fazer has had a bakery in Lappeenranta since 2003. The bakery employs 90 people and bakes rice pies and frozen products.
Fazer’s shops:
Fazer Shop Lappeenranta
Satamatie 15-17
More information on opening hours and product offering will be provided closer to the opening date
Fazer Shop Lahti
Kasakkamäentie 3, 15800 Lahti
Fazer Shop Ranua
Rovaniemintie 29, FI-97700 Ranua
Fazer Experience Visitor Centre
Fazerintie 6, Vantaa
https://www.visitfazer.com/
https://www.fazergroup.com/fi/tietoa-fazerista/fazer-shop--tehtaanmyymalat/
For more information
Liisa Eerola, Director, Communications, Fazer Confectionery
liisa.eerola@fazer.com tel. +358 (0)44 710 8860
Fazer's media line is open Mon-Fri 8-16 tel. +358 (0)40 668 2998, media@fazer.com
Fazer Group
Fazer, The Food Experience Company, enables people to enjoy the best moments of their day. Our mission, Food with a purpose, builds on our strong more than 130-year heritage, consumer first approach and innovations to create the sustainable food solutions of the future. With our dedicated team of approximately 5,000 professionals, we focus on fast-moving consumer goods and our direct-to-consumer business in Northern Europe, and beyond with exports to more than 40 countries. Fazer’s operations comply with its Code of Conduct that is based on the Group’s values and the UN Global Compact. In 2023, Fazer Group had net sales of 1.200 million euros.
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