Panda Oy is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

confectionery company based in

Vaajakoski Vaajakoski is a district of Jyväskylä, Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to t ...

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capital of ...

. The company was founded in 1920 by SOK (Suomen Osuuskauppojen Keskuskunta). Panda is known for its liquorice and

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

products. In 2005, the company was sold to Felix Abba, which is part of the Norwegian

Orkla Group Orkla ASA is a Norwegian conglomerate operating in the Nordic region, Eastern Europe, Asia and the US. At present, Orkla operates in the branded consumer goods, aluminium solutions and financial investment sectors. Orkla ASA is listed on the Os ...

History

The beginning stages

SOK founded Panda in 1920. The name then was simply SOK's confectionery factory. In 1929, it moved to an extension built next to the margarine factory. In the early years, the product selection consisted only of hard candies and marmalade. The production of chocolate began in the new building, and licorice began to be produced in the following decade. During the war years, the product selection was reduced, and at the end of 1942, only carrot marmalade was available, but during the shortage, even this went like hot stones. After the war, regulation made confectionery production difficult, but in the 1950s, even this became easier and the industry began to grow rapidly. Pandan tehtaat

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Brand name confectionery Finnish chocolate companies Food and drink companies established in 1920 Finnish brands Food and drink companies of Finland 1920 establishments in Finland {{Finland-company-stub