4
Research and development
Research and development costs of
continuous operations were EUR
2.1 (2.1)
million, or 1.3% (1.3%)
of net sales. In addition, EUR #REF!
(#REF!)
million in product development costs
was capitalised on the
balance sheet during the financial
year
in relation to the
development
of the rapeseed ingredient.
In the Food Solutions business, research and development operations
were mainly related to developing new products
and strengthening
cooperation networks that support operations, for example
working
on the development of food
chain information models.
Apetit improves its products and creating brand new
products to
provide easy, delicious plant-based products for different meal
situations for people who value food that
tastes good, is healthy and
is produced responsibly. New products are developed to match
market-specific
preferences and nutritional
recommendations,
and
for
convenient everyday meals.
The national nutritional recommendations recommend
eating a wide
variety of vegetables, increasing the consumption
of vegetables, root
vegetables and legumes, and using vegetable
oils daily. In its
products, Apetit pays special attention to attractive appearance
and
good taste, in addition to nutritional values
.
In the Oilseed Products business, the company focused on
increasing
in-depth research and development. The project to enhance
the
added value of rapeseed as
a raw material continued, with Business
Finland participated in its funding. The purpose has been
to develop
an entirely new ingredient with high nutritional
content for the
international food market. In December 2020, the European
Commission granted a novel food
authorisation for Apetit’s rapeseed
powder, the BlackGrain from Yellow Fields.
In 2025, Apetit launched a strategic investment in
Kantvik’s vegetable
oil milling plant to improve the raw material production
process for
BlackGrain from Yellow Fields® rapeseed powder and to multiply its
production capacity. The investment, which will be made during the
second half of 2025, will support
the commercialization of BlackGrain.
In 2023, Apetit launched a project to produce Finnish pea protein.
Opportunities for domestic production
are examined for the entire
value chain. In 2025, work carried out in the project
has focused on
trial runs and technology comparison
to consolidate the competitive
advantage. More domestic plant proteins is one of
the Apetit’s
strategic focus areas.
Apetit carries out cultivation research and development
operations on
its experimental farm in Köyliö, Säkylä.
The objective of research
operations is to secure
the open field
cultivation
of vegetables by
taking proactive measures to adjust cultivation
methods in response
to a changing environment and by providing
farmers with the latest
information and expertise. Through these operations, Apetit is looking
for alternatives to chemical pesticides
and seeking ways to improve
soil fertility and water management, for example.
In 2025, Räpi experimental farm conducted research on
various plant
varieties. The aim of the experiments was to find
varieties that are
resistant to the changing growing conditions
in Finland. In addition,
Räpi had two ongoing projects related to various
new plant
protection methods.
In addition to in-house research and
development activities, Apetit participates in selected
research
projects and development programmes coordinated by
various
Several variety trials were executed in
the RypsiRapsi forum in 2025.
Trials were conducted in autumn oilseed plants with regard to
sowing
technology, among other things, and in spring oilseed
plants, fertiliser
and sowing method trials were conducted, both
on a square and farm
scale.
Seasonality of operations
In accordance with the IAS 2 standard, the historical
cost of
inventories includes a systematically
allocated portion of the fixed
production overheads. With production focusing on
harvest time, raw
materials are mainly processed into finished
products during
the
second half of the year
when more fixed
production overheads are
recognized on the balance sheet than
the other quarters of the year.
Due to this accounting practice, most of
the Group’s annual profit
is
accrued during the second half
of the year. The timing of end of the
harvest season can affect the comparability
between financial
years.
The seasonal nature of profit
accumulation
is
most marked
in the
Food Solutions segment and in the associated
company Sucros,
where production reflects
the
crop harvesting season.
Harvesting seasons also cause seasonal
variation in the amount of
working capital tied up in operations. Working capital
tied up in
Oilseed Products is at its highest towards the end of
the year and
decreases to its lowest in the summer
before the next harvest season.
As production in the Food Solutions segment is
seasonal and follows
the harvest period, the working capital tied
up in operations is at its
highest around the turn of the year in
that segment.
Risks, uncertainties and risk management
The Board of Directors of Apetit Plc has
confirmed
the
Group’s
risk
management policy and principles.
The primary goals of Apetit Group are to improve
the company’s
profitability
and competitiveness and
ensure
the
financial
position
of
the company’s business. The purpose of the company’s risk
management is to support the achievement
of these goals. Risk
management is part of corporate governance.
It is a systematic tool
for the Board of Directors and operative
management, enabling them
to monitor and assess the achievement
of the goals and the threats
and opportunities that affect the company’s operations.
Aim of Apetit Group’s risk management is to
assess risks in the
operating environment in a predictive manner. Apetit Group classifies
risks into strategic, operative and financial
risks
and
risk
events.
The aim of risk management is
to recognise and assess risks
systematically and manage them
cost-efficiently
by
●
ensuring that all known risks to personnel, customers,
products, reputation, assets, human capital and operations
are addressed, always according to law, based on best
available knowledge and with justifications,
taking into
account the current financial
situation,