Raw material efficiency and material efficiency

Apetit’s most significant actions related to material and raw material efficiency are associated with the optimal use of food raw materials, especially in harvest time production. Packaging materials can also influence material efficiency.

Apetit Group’s three production facilities generate varying amounts of side streams. The Kantvik vegetable oil milling plant uses 99.9 per cent of oilseeds. Wastage at the Pudasjärvi frozen pizza plant is also relatively small: around 3 per cent of the Group’s biowaste is generated at Pudasjärvi.

The majority, around 94 per cent, of Apetit’s biowaste streams are generated at the Säkylä frozen foods plant. Most of the Säkylä plant’s biowaste comes from production focusing on harvest time. Some of the side streams of harvest-time production, such as crushed material from peas, can be used as an ingredient in products. For example, the Kotimainen Säkylän kasvispyörykkä vegetable balls, launched in 2023 for professional food service customers, utilise the side streams of the pea and carrot freezing process.

In addition to the reportable biowaste, waste streams are generated from soil and stones that come from the field along with the seasonal vegetables. Their amount corresponds to about a quarter of the total amount of waste from the Säkylä plant. About 71 per cent of waste streams are biowaste, mainly consisting of the side streams of harvest season vegetables. In 2023, side streams from the harvest season and other organic waste were utilized in bioenergy production at the bioenergy plant next to the Säkylä freezer factory.

Developing raw material efficiency and material efficiency

A material review has been conducted at the Säkylä frozen foods plant, on the basis of which Apetit is trying to, among other things, reduce the amount of side streams that would be suitable for food use.

The use of the side streams of the Kantvik vegetable oil milling plant, i.e. the straw waste that comes with oilseeds, at the bioenergy plant has been intensified during 2023, and this side steam can now be fully utilised in the production of the bioenergy plant.

After the upgrade of the pizza production line in Pudasjärvi and the launch of new pizzas, waste at the frozen pizza plant is monitored daily by weighing. Efforts are made to influence the generation of waste by developing pizza dough, conveyors and refrigeration.

Putting screening waste into good use

In 2023, the operational efficiency of the bioenergy plant at the Kantvik vegetable oil milling plant improved regarding burning the byproducts. For example, the straw waste included in seed deliveries and waste from screening processes, were used more efficiently.