GMO is a troublesome issue to Atria Finland

Atria Finland has started blogging (in Finnish). The blog of course should be followed by all interested.  The first posting is from May, and it is written by Mika Ala-Fossi, EVP Atria Finland.  He talks about GMO.  He says that raw materials used by the company are GMO free.  However, he admits that 20% of contract farmers’ pigs get feed which contains modified soy.  Ala-Fossi’s message comes absolutely clear: genetically modified feed is okay.

It is obvious that Ala-Fossi’s attitude angers skeptical consumers whose number is growing steadily.  Atria’s hardest rivals, HKScan and Snellman, offer GMO free alternatives.  Atria Finland just doesn’t mind.

Atria Scandinavia - precious brands

When Atria Group in 2007 bought the company Sardus AB, it was not generally considered to be a particularly good deal.  However, the Group itself saw that the €124 million acquisition was a success:  they were buying precious brands and a bridgehead to Denmark.

Okay, today there’s nothing new in Denmark, but the same old 3-Stjernet.  However, it is in a good shape as are most of those precious Swedish brands with a long history, like Lönneberga, Arboga, Onsala, and Pastejköket, which all came with Sardus acquisition.  Not to forget Falbygdens Ost which truly is a good brand but was years for sale and now at last it will be sold, Arla is the likely buyer. Lätta Måltider was of course not a good product line but it's just history.

Currently, when Atria Scandinavia’s other main brands, like Sibylla and Ridderheims are looking for growth in Russia, those above-mentioned home market brands are increasingly important due to Russia’s bans.

So, Atria Scandinavia’s brands are fine but there is a marked threat, however.  Avoiding carbohydrates is already a permanent phenomenon and bread consumption is a long-term downward trend.  That’s why sandwich toppings like cold cuts and pates are problematic as the company’s core category.

We will look at Atria again later but on Friday, October 10th, we are going to look at HKScan’s businesses.  Russian melancholy is suitable for all situations.

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