Valio Ltd () is a Finnish manufacturer of

dairy product Dairy products or milk products are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, goat, nanny goat, and Sheep, ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food around the world such as y ...

s and one of the largest companies in Finland. Valio's products include cheese, powdered ingredients, butter,

yogurt Yogurt (; , from , ; also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to ...

and milk. It is Finland's largest milk processor, producing 85% of the country's milk. Valio's net turnover in 2012 was 2 billion euros. Valio is the market leader in key dairy product categories in Finland and a pioneer as the developer of

functional food A functional food is a food claimed to have an additional benefit beyond just nutrition (often one related to health promotion or disease prevention) by modifying the horticulture, cultivation of the native food or by food additive, adding ingr ...

s. Valio is owned by 18 dairy cooperatives which have about 7,900 milk farmers as members. Valio's product range currently consists of about 1,000 products. Valio is Finland’s biggest food exporter and sells products to nearly 60 countries. In 2015 Valio’s share of Finland’s dairy product exports was around 97%, and that of Finland’s food exports around 29%. Valio has 15 production facilities in Finland, two in

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

and a plant for producing processed cheese and a logistics centre in Moscow, Russia. Valio subsidiaries operate in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, the

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United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. International operations account for one third of Valio net turnover.

History

Valio was founded in 1905 by 17 co-operative dairies. The original name of the company was , or 'Butter Export Cooperative Valio'. The company was originally based in Hanko and the most important market was

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Valio's activities expanded from butter to other

s in 1909, and by the 1920s Valio's marketing in Finland was bigger than abroad. In 1933, Valio started production of Koskenlaskija Finnish brand of processed cheese in Helsinki. In the

, Valio sold ''Pasteurized Process Gruyere Cheese'' in a wooden box, with graphics on 2 sides. Artturi Ilmari Virtanen, who received the

Nobel Prize in Chemistry The Nobel Prize in Chemistry () is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outst ...

, was an employee of Valio. The prize was given "for his research and inventions in agricultural and nutrition chemistry, especially for his fodder preservation method". Virtanen's work preserved nutrients in hay, which lead cows to produce more nutritious milk. In 2001, Valio launched a lactose-free milk drink which is not sweet like

HYLA ''Hyla'' is a genus of frogs in the tree frog family Hylidae. As traditionally defined, it was a wastebasket genus with more than 300 species found in Europe, Asia, Africa, and across the Americas. After a major revision of the family, most of t ...

milk but has the fresh taste of ordinary milk. Valio patented the chromatographic separation method to remove lactose. Valio also markets these products in

, and the

, where the company says

ultrafiltration Ultrafiltration (UF) is a variety of membrane filtration in which forces such as pressure or concentration gradients lead to a separation through a semipermeable membrane. Suspended solids and solutes of high molecular weight are retained in t ...

is used. In

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

the products were present under the Valio brand until 2013, but the name changed after Valio sold their Belgian subsidiary in 2012. The brand is now called Dilea, and the drink is still made using the Valio process. Valio sold its ice cream activity to overseas company

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

in 2004. Nestlé also received the right to use the name for 10 years, ending in 2014. It was soon transferred into the Nestle/ R&R Ice Cream joint venture Froneri Finland. In 2005, (Valio Ice Cream Bar), designed by Paola Suhonen, was opened in

Kamppi Center Kamppi Centre (, ) is a complex in the Kamppi district in the centre of Helsinki, Finland, designed by various architects, the main designer, however, being Juhani Pallasmaa. It is said to be Helsinki's new downtown commercial and residential ...

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. In 2007, Valio invested approx. €60 million in a factory near

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

for the packaging of cheese and butter for the Russian market, as well as for logistics operations from Moscow up to the Pacific Ocean. The products were mostly imported from the mother company in Finland. The production capacity of the plant was 8,000 Mt per year with 400 employees and could be expanded up to 20,000 Mt. The turnover of Valio in Russia was €283 million in 2010, making it the biggest Finnish consumer business on the Russian market after Nokia. After Russia imposed sanctions on the EU, butter made by Valio appeared in supermarkets in the USA under the FINLANDIA brand.

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Food and drink companies of Finland Finnish brands Manufacturing companies based in Helsinki Ice cream brands