Esa Mäki, CEO: “Operating profit from Apetit’s continuing operations clearly improved year-on-year. In Oilseed Products, profit improvement was significant and raw material sourcing was successful throughout the year. International crush margins were at an exceptionally elevated level during the entire calendar year. In Food Solutions, the sales developed favourably. The impact of inflation, which has weakened profit development, was successfully moderated. Throughout the year, price increases were made in Food Solutions. Long-term work in product development and product portfolio management had positive impacts on Apetit’s result. The Group’s full-year net sales decreased from the comparison year due to the fact that market prices decreased in oilseed products. In Food Solutions, net sales increased year-on-year in all sales channels. Sales volumes grew in the Food service sector and exports and remained at the comparison year’s level in retail trade and industrial sales. We took significant strategic steps in 2023. In October, we announced an approximately EUR 4.5 million investment in a new bottling line to be built at the Kantvik vegetable oil milling plant. It is our goal, that the new line will become operational during the second half of 2024. The investment follows Apetit’s strategy of speeding up growth. It enables us to take the vegetable oil supply chain more firmly into our own hands and develop products with a higher degree of processing. The ongoing ERP project has progressed according to the planned schedule. The first implementation phase of the project between November and December was successful. A large and important project demands a lot from the personnel. Strategically significant ERP system is carried out in project groups that cross the group's organizational boundaries. We established sales organisation in Sweden to boost food exports. Apetit’s foothold in Sweden has strengthened as our products have expanded into new retailer groups. The share of food exports in net sales increased in 2023. Net sales from exports to Sweden increased slightly year-on-year. The commercialisation of the rapeseed protein ingredient BlackGrain progresses. In 2023, we took important steps in production process development towards starting commercial scale production. We will tell more about our long-term plans on BlackGrain in the second half of 2024. We also launched a project to produce Finnish pea protein. The pea is one of the most used plant proteins worldwide, but thus far there has been no pea protein production in Finland. Apetit’s expertise in plant-based raw materials and strong cooperation with Finnish primary production lay a solid foundation for the project. “More domestic plant proteins” is one of Apetit’s strategic focus areas. Apetit was the driving force in the establishment of the new domestic oilseed plant production development group, RypsiRapsi-foorumi. Domestic rapeseed harvest has been worryingly low in recent years. With the forum we want to produce practical information and efficient rapeseed cultivation methods. The goal is to promote the cultivation of domestic rapeseed and its profitability. We have reduced CO2 emissions caused by our use of energy by 68 per cent compared to 2019. Apetit’s production facilities have gone through a major energy transition in recent years and 74 per cent of the energy we used in 2023 was from renewable sources. The Säkylä frozen foods plant’s new energy solution that is based on heat recovery and enables the use of biogas was deployed in summer 2023. Strong cost inflation influenced the past operating year and consumer purchasing behaviour. Affordable price plays an increasingly important role in purchasing decisions. Apetit’s product range is an excellent match to consumer demand. In addition to the price, important factors influencing purchase decisions are long-term trends, such as healthiness and sustainability. In early 2023, we conducted a survey on Finnish consumers’ perceptions concerning frozen vegetables. Approximately one in three Finns say that they buy frozen vegetables almost every time they go grocery shopping and about nine out of ten consider frozen vegetables to be excellent help in making everyday life easier and increasing the use of vegetables. Approximately 85 per cent of Finns consider frozen vegetables to be a sustainable choice. Apetit focuses on domestic and plant-based raw materials as well as products that promote well-being and sustainable consumption. We continue our efforts to seek growth from diverse plant-based food solutions and added-value products. The past year indicates that Apetit is on the right track. I would like to warmly thank all Apetit employees and for their cooperation the owners, customers, contract growers and other partners for the year 2023.”

Esa Mäki, CEO: “In the third quarter, Apetit’s operating profit improved year-on-year. Both businesses improved their results. In Oilseed Products, positive profit performance was boosted by successful raw material sourcing. The operational efficiency of the bioenergy plant at the Kantvik vegetable oil milling plant has improved. In Food Solutions, positive profit performance resulted from good development in sales and price adjustments made in order to respond to the general rise in costs. We upgraded our profit guidance for 2023 for operating profit from continuing operations. Apetit expects the full-year operating profit from continuing operations to clearly improve year-on-year. In Oilseed Products, raw material sourcing has been successful throughout the year. International crush margins have been at an elevated level during the entire calendar year, and stabilisation of margins is not expected to happen during the remaining financial year. In Food Solutions, the sales have developed favourably. The impact of inflation, which has limited profit development, has successfully been moderated. The harvesting season, which is a key profit driver for Food Solutions, has progressed in a way that limits the risk during the current financial year from previous estimate. In October, we announced that we are building the new bottling line in the Kantvik vegetable oil milling plant. With this approximately EUR 4.5 million investment, we take the supply chain more firmly into our own hands. Investing in a new bottling line follows Apetit’s strategy of speeding up growth and provides opportunities for the development of products with a higher degree of processing in the vegetable oil business. On the new line, vegetable oils can be bottled in plastic and glass bottles. It is estimated that the new line will become operational during the second half of 2024. The abundant rainfall in August and September posed challenges for harvesting. Weather in the autumn can have a negative impact on the quality of root vegetable crops. Regardless, the harvest-time production of root vegetables has been fairly good as a whole. The processing of root vegetable crops will continue to the next calendar year. The volume and quality of autumn spinach crops were impaired by the abundant rainfall. We have launched several delicious new products during the autumn. Our new soup ingredients for traditional salmon soup and borsch soup introduced the Apetit brand in a new product category. These products contain soup ingredients for making a filling soup easily. Another new product of this autumn, Mashed potato with carrots, makes daily life much easier. The frozen pizza product family expanded to family-size pizzas when Superior Grande pizzas were introduced to the market. These new pizzas increase the range of Apetit’s frozen pizzas, which was renewed a year ago and received a warm welcome among consumers. The new products introduced this autumn are an excellent complement to our range of products. Apetit’s product selection is a good match for the current situation, in which consumers prefer affordably priced products. Important steps forward have been taken in the work to commercialise the rapeseed protein ingredient BlackGrain. This year’s efforts have been associated with the development of the production process. During the summer and the autumn, we have achieved desired results in process-related details, contributing to starting the commercial scale production. “More domestic plant proteins” is one of Apetit’s strategic focus areas. We have launched a project to produce Finnish pea protein. In this strategically important project, we explore, in the entire value chain, the opportunities to produce Finnish pea protein. We have many advantages here: strong value chain insight, expertise in plant-based raw materials and long-term cooperation with domestic primary production. The pea is one of our most used plant proteins worldwide, but thus far we have relied on imported raw materials. During the review period, Apetit decided to establish its own sales organisation in Sweden. The decision strengthens our position and promotes exports. Apetit’s product selection has achieved a strong foothold in the Swedish retail trade and it has grown even stronger with the expansion of the distribution channels. Export demand for peas continues to be strong. Apetit’s production facilities have gone through an energy transition and, as a result, the share of renewable energy of all energy used by the Group has grown approximately eight-fold. Wind power is now used in all production facilities. The Kantvik bioenergy plant and the Säkylä plant’s new energy solution have increased the use of domestic renewable energy. Apetit’s emission targets will be reached ahead of the planned schedule. The target set by Apetit is to reduce energy-related emissions by 75 per cent by 2025.”

Esa Mäki, CEO: “Apetit’s result continued to develop positively. In the second quarter, the Group’s operating profit improved year-on-year. Both businesses improved their results. In Oilseed Products, the result has been improved by successful raw material sourcing. In Food Solutions, the improvement in result was influenced by successful product launches and by the price increases, made as a response to the general increase in costs. Result for the first half of the year improved clearly year-on-year. In the second quarter, Apetit Group’s net sales decreased slightly from the comparison period. The prices of oilseed products were exceptionally high in the comparison period, and the stabilisation of market prices could be seen as a decrease in net sales. However, sales volumes increased year-on-year. In Food Solutions, sales volumes and net sales have increased in all channels. The effects of cost inflation can be seen in consumer purchasing behavior. When buying food, consumers prefer more affordable products. At the same time, traditional, easy-to-prepare dishes, such as casseroles, have again become more popular. This can also be seen as changes in the demand for Apetit’s products as demand varies between different product groups. Our product range meet the consumers’ needs well. Frozen vegetables are an easy way to eat healthy and at the same time reduce food waste. The harvest season has proceeded fairly well. The hot and dry weather in the early summer reduced the first batch of the frozen pea harvest. The pea fields harvested later have yielded a harvest that is in line with expectations, in terms of both quality and quantity. For root vegetables, the growing season is still ongoing. The outlook is good, thanks to rains that came at a good time in July. For domestic spring oilseed plants, the growing season has been hampered by the hot and dry early summer. The rapeseed cultivation area has decreased year-on-year, which is not in line with our targets. As Finland is not entirely self-sufficient in oilseed plants, there is a genuine need to increase the cultivation area. In June, we announced a significant step in promoting the cultivation of domestic oilseed plants. Apetit was the driving force in the establishment of the new oilseed plant production development group, RypsiRapsi-foorumi. The forum brings together different stakeholders in the oilseed plant sector. It compiles the results of earlier research activities and produces new farming knowledge. Through this forum, we want to provide farmers with practical information and efficient methods for the cultivation of oilseed plants. The goal is to promote the cultivation of rapeseed and its profitability in Finland. The work to commercialize the rapeseed ingredient BlackGrain continues. During the first half of the year, we have focused on developing the production process. Measures to start commercial scale production are underway. BlackGrain offers the food industry a new domestic plant protein alternative that supports the implementation of the circular economy and the development of sustainable and high-quality food solutions. The use of steam produced with biogas was started in harvest-time production at the Säkylä frozen foods plant as part of the plant’s new energy solution. The new energy solution, based on renewable energy sources and heat recovery, will reduce the plant’s CO2 emissions by approximately 80 per cent. From now on, steam used at the Säkylä frozen foods plant is mainly produced with bioenergy. At the same time, the amount of primary energy needed decreases by approximately one third. As a result of the deployment of the new energy solution, the Group now uses mainly renewable energy sources. Already in 2022, a total of 76 per cent of the energy used by Apetit came from renewable sources. During the review period, we made a lot of progress towards our corporate responsibility programme’s goal of increasing the recyclability of packaging. Early this year, the use of recyclable plastic started in the Apetit Potato Onion product family, accounting for high sales volumes. The first frozen soups packaged in PECF-certified paperboard will be available in shops in the autumn. All frozen soups will be packaged in PEFC-certified paperboard by the end of 2024.”