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Apetit Group’s production plants use household water, lake water and sea water. Water consumption is the highest at the Säkylä frozen foods plant, where water is used particularly for washing vegetables. Household water is used at all production facilities.
Lake water and household water are used at the Säkylä frozen foods plant. The washing of harvest season vegetables is the process with the highest water consumption. Water is used in a closed system for cooling equipment. The Kantvik vegetable oil milling plant uses sea water in a closed system for process cooling purposes.
The Säkylä plant’s water consumption represents more than 80 per cent of the entire Group’s water consumption, not taking into account the sea water used in the closed system at the Kantvik plant. Water used for washing vegetables goes to the wastewater treatment plant for processing, while lake water used for cooling is returned to the same body of water through a closed cycle.
Water consumption at the Kantvik vegetable oil milling plant has increased due to the commissioning of the adjacent bioenergy plant. The use of sea water in the closed system at Kantvik has decreased significantly due to the completion of the bioenergy plant and the renewal of the oil milling plant’s vacuum system. The frozen pizza plant in Pudasjärvi uses only household water, and its water consumption is low compared to Apetit’s other operations. In both Pudasjärvi and Säkylä, water is used for washing production equipment, for example.
As all of Apetit Group’s production facilities are located in Finland, no water is taken from areas where water is scarce. Apetit has studied the eutrophication effects and water footprint of selected products to reduce its environmental impacts.
Among Apetit’s production plants, water consumption is highest at the Säkylä frozen foods plant, particularly in production activities involving harvest season vegetables. The water efficiency of the Säkylä plant has been improved over the past few years. Pea receiving processes were updated at the plant in 2022, which reduced water consumption by 2,500 litres per frozen pea tonne. The brush scrubbers and steam peelers installed at the Säkylä plant in 2021 enhance the efficiency of the vegetable washing process. There are annual variations in water use due to differences in harvest seasons.
In 2023 in the processing of seasonal vegetables water consumption increased. Due to the wet autumn the raw materials were more muddy and the brush washers have consumed an extraordinary amount of water. In the future, water use will be made more efficient by improving usage monitoring.