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From waste to taste: Raisio and Nordic Umami Company team up to create delicious sauce

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Press release 31 May 2023

The results of the collaboration between Raisio and Nordic Umami Company, which started a year ago, will be available for sampling in the summer when samples of the ‘Härkis® tomaattinen maustekastike’ tomato sauce, made from production side streams, become available in selected K Group shops in Finland. Raisio and Nordic Umami Company have been working together to explore the possibilities of using the side streams of Raisio’s plant-based products in the production of natural umami. A side stream is any surplus raw material, or part of it, generated during production that would normally end up as waste.

Raisio and Nordic Umami Company have the same goal: to promote a sustainable food system. Raisio focuses on plant-based and heart-healthy products, while Nordic Umami Company develops umami products from food industry side streams. The technology (patent pending) developed by Nordic Umami Company to produce plant-based “meaty” flavours  from various plant-based raw materials is based on nature’s own processes.

The collaboration made use of the side streams generated from the production of Raisio’s factories. The primary goal of the collaboration was to find new uses for the side streams as a raw material for food.

The raw materials used in the tomato sauce – faba bean hulls, oat milling  waste – are side streams, meaning that they have been generated in the course of other production.

Part of Raisio’s responsibility programme

The cooperation with Nordic Umami Company is part of Raisio’s responsibility programme, one of the objectives of which is to continuously reduce food loss and waste.

“Our primary goal is to prevent waste: we want to improve our processes and practices to minimise the amount of waste. If there is waste, our aim is to ensure that edible food that is unfit for sale goes back into the food chain and inedible food waste is used for other purposes. The collaboration with Nordic Umami Company is one example of how food waste can be turned into tasty treats,” says Raisio’s ESG Manager Katri Järvinen-Wilén.

Raisio will continue to supply raw materials from its side streams to Nordic Umami Company. “Through various partnerships, we have found several uses for the faba bean hulls generated during the production of Härkis® products,” says Katri Järvinen-Wilén.

“We are excited about this new delicious product created in collaboration with Raisio. We are excited to play our part in adding delicious flavour to everyone’s everyday lives, as well as helping businesses make use of ingredients that would otherwise go to waste. It is great to be working with a Finnish partner to create the conditions for circular food production,” says Kaisa Karhunen, CEO of Nordic Umami Company. 

Small special batch available as samples

The ‘Härkis® tomaattinen maustekastike’ tomato sauce will be available in early June as a special product sample in selected K Group shops in the Helsinki metropolitan area, Turku and Tampere. The limited sample will be available in selected stores when you buy two Härkis® products. The sauce can be used in a similar way to barbecue sauce to give barbecue delicacies a full-bodied umami flavour. The sauce can also be used to season Härkis® burgers, for example; you can find the recipe in Finnish here: https://harkis.fi/fi/resepti/maukkaat-harkis-hampurilaiset/

Samples of the product will be available in the following shops:

  • K-Citymarket Ruoholahti, Helsinki
  • K-Supermarket Redi, Helsinki
  • K-Citymarket Pirkkala
  • K-Supermarket Ratina, Tampere
  • K-Supermarket Kuninkaankulma, Tampere
  • K-Citymarket Tampere Lielahti
  • K-Citymarket Hyvinkää
  • K-Citymarket Hämeenlinna Hämeensaari
  • K-Supermarket Raisio Center
  • K-Citymarket Turku Ravattula

Enquiries:

Raisio: Anna-Maria Kinnunen, Head of Marketing, Härkis®, tel. +358 40 722 1478
Nordic Umami Company: Kaisa Karhunen, Chief Executive Officer, tel. +358 40 555 17 25

Photos, Raisio Plc: The ‘Härkis® tomaattinen maustekastike’ tomato sauce

Nordic Umami Company Ltd
Nordic Umami Company Ltd is a food technology start-up based on the circular economy, producing flavour innovations for consumers and the food industry from food industry side streams or food that would otherwise go to waste. Our first commercial products – Meatless Bouillon, Umami Soyless Sauce, Umami Salt and Umami Fishless Sauce – were launched on the Finnish market in 2022. www.nordicumami.fi

RAISIO PLC
At Raisio, we make food from the heart, with the aim of bringing health to ourselves and the Earth. We keep creating better plant-based and heart-healthy products so that eating healthily and within the Earth’s ecological capacity can be a joy. Our strong brands, such as Benecol®, Härkis® and Elovena®, turn our ambitions into reality. Through our responsibility work, we make the hard choices for consumers, so that they can choose Raisio products with confidence. We have around 350 healthy food colleagues in six countries and export to more than 40 markets around the world. Raisio's shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. In 2022, the Group’s comparable net sales for continuing operations were approximately EUR 221 million and the comparable EBIT was approximately EUR 18 million. www.raisio.com

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