Valio has acquired two fava-bean brands from fellow Finnish food group Raisio.
Under the terms of the €7m (US7.3m) deal, Finnish dairy major Valio has bought Raisio’s plant-protein business, which includes the Härkis and Beanit brands.
“The food system of the future will include plant-based and animal-based food, as well as food produced by cellular agriculture,” Valio executive vice president Tuomas Salusjärvi said. “This is the foundation of Valio’s strategy, which sees us growing from a dairy company into a food company. This business acquisition is one step on our path of growth.”
In a separate statement, Raisio said the assets changing hands generated net sales of €4.5m in 2024, down from €5.5m in 2023. Last year, the assets ran up a “comparable” EBIT loss of €2.6m. In 2023, it was €3.2m.
Raisio acquired Verso, the owner of the Beanit and Härkis brands, from Norway’s Kavli in 2021.
“Promoting the food transition with plant-based food and innovating new things will continue to be key parts of Raisio’s strategy and operations, even though we have now decided to divest this business,” Raisio CEO Pasi Flinkman said.
The deal will see 16 staff move to Valio, which will also take on production equipment at a site in the Finnish town of Kauhava. Raisio has been a lessee of the Kauhava property and will sublease it to Valio.
Finland’s biggest dairy business, Valio’s portfolio also includes the Oddlygood range of plant-based dairy alternatives.
Valio launched the Oddlygood plant-based brand in 2018. In May 2021, the company said it would spin off the business and look for a co-investor. By the end of the year, Mandatum Asset Management announced €25m of investment in the business.
In October, Oddlygood snapped up UK rival Rude Health. Set up in 2005 by Camilla and Nick Barnard, Rude Health produces plant-based milks, made from oat, cashew, coconut, brown rice and soya.
The same month saw Valio announce plans to shut a domestic factory and warehouse in a bid to boost the “efficiency and profitability” of its production.
