Valio facts for kids
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| Limited company | |
| Industry | Dairy |
| Founded | 1905 |
| Headquarters | |
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Key people
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Annikka Hurme (CEO) |
| Revenue |  EUR 2 billion |
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Number of employees
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4,600 |
Valio Ltd is a large Finnish company that makes many different dairy products. It is one of the biggest companies in Finland. Valio makes things like cheese, butter, yogurt, and milk. They process about 85% of all the milk in Finland.
In 2012, Valio's total sales were 2 billion euros. Valio is a leader in making dairy products in Finland. They also create special "functional foods" which are foods that have extra health benefits. Valio is owned by 18 groups of dairy farmers. About 7,900 milk farmers are part of these groups. Valio sells about 1,000 different products. They are Finland's biggest food exporter, selling products to almost 60 countries. In 2015, Valio sent out about 97% of Finland's dairy exports. They also made up about 29% of all food exports from Finland.
Valio has 15 factories in Finland. They also have two factories in Estonia. In Moscow, Russia, they have a plant for making processed cheese. They also have a storage and shipping center there. Valio has offices in Russia, Sweden, the Baltic countries, the United States, and China. About one-third of Valio's sales come from outside Finland.
Valio's Story
Valio was started in 1905 by 17 groups of dairy farmers. Its first name meant 'Butter Export Cooperative Valio'. The company first started in Hanko. Their main market for butter was England.
Valio started making more than just butter in 1909. By the 1920s, Valio sold more products in Finland than abroad. In 1933, Valio began making Koskenlaskija cheese in Helsinki. This is a famous Finnish processed cheese.
A Nobel Prize Winner's Work
Artturi Ilmari Virtanen worked for Valio. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He won it for his work in farming and food science. He found a way to keep hay fresh for cows. This helped cows produce more nutritious milk.
New Products and Changes
In 2001, Valio made a new lactose-free milk drink. It tasted like regular milk, not sweet like other lactose-free milks. Valio found a special way to remove the lactose. They also sell these products in Sweden, Estonia, and the United States.
Valio products were sold in Belgium until 2013. Valio sold their Belgian company in 2012. Now, the brand there is called Dilea. It still uses the Valio process to make the milk.
In 2004, Valio sold its ice cream business to Nestlé. Nestlé could use the name "Valiojäätelö" for 10 years. This ended in 2014. Later, this ice cream business became part of Froneri Finland.
In 2005, a Valio Ice Cream Bar opened in Kamppi Center, Helsinki. It was designed by Paola Suhonen.
In 2007, Valio built a factory near Moscow. This factory packed cheese and butter for the Russian market. It also helped with shipping products across Russia. Most of the products came from Finland. The factory could pack 8,000 tons of products each year. It had 400 employees. Valio's sales in Russia were 283 million euros in 2010. This made them a big Finnish business in Russia.
After some international events, Valio butter appeared in US supermarkets. It was sold under the FINLANDIA brand.
