Apetit Plc, Press release 7 August 2020 at 10.00 a.m.
Avena Nordic Grain Plc, part of the Apetit Plc Group, has received a verdict from EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) in favour of receiving novel food authorisation for its first new product innovation. BlackGrain from Yellow Fields is a rapeseed-based plant protein and fibre powder, that has great nutritional values and versatile product applications.
“Favourable opinion means that BlackGrain from Yellow Fields has been assessed safe by the authority. This opinion from EFSA is a positive and significant waypoint on this journey. We will continue taking steps forward in developing new BlackGrain rapeseed ingredients”, says R&D Manager Kaisu Riihinen, who’s in charge of the ingredient development.
EFSA has previously deemed the use of rapeseed protein powder to be safe, when the content of antinutrients typical to rapeseed, and harmful in large quantities, are on a low level. Processing steps of the rapeseed powder are based on reducing the content of these antinutrients, glucosinolates and phytates, in the ingredient.
The application for authorization was handed over to EFSA at the end of 2018. Now after the favourable verdict the proposal will move forward to the European Commission, who will make their decision regarding the authorisation by the beginning of 2021.
“We’ve continued development in the second phase of the project, and our goal is to develop new ingredients based on the original ingredient with a customer-oriented approach”, Riihinen says.
Avena Nordic Grain Plc has a long history in developing high-quality vegetable oils and expellers meals. BlackGrain from Yellow Fields is the company’s innovation, that has been in development since 2017. The project has received funding from Business Finland. Favourable opinion was given by EFSA, an organization providing independent scientific advice in order to guarantee food safety in Europe.
Clean and safe Nordic product with great nutritional values and versatile product applications
BlackGrain is made from one of Avena’s main products, oil seed expellers. Until now, oil seed expellers have been utilized as animal feed. Through development, it can now be used in making rapeseed powder suitable for human consumption.
“Oil seed expeller is an existing, nutrient-rich raw ingredient. Using oil seed expeller in human consumption cuts down the food chain, and is a responsible choice”, Riihinen says.
BlackGrain from Yellow Fields has good nutritional values, and a great combination of fibre, protein and good fats. In addition, it has necessary amount of important amino acids, and it can be utilized in a variety of different foods.
“BlackGrain has been tested and adapted to be used in breads, cereal bars, snacks, granola, muesli, meat analogs and meatballs. Moreover, we are happy to take our customers’ requirements into consideration and help them find the best way of incorporating BlackGrain into their product”, says Product Development Manager Leticia Valenzuela.
BlackGrain from Yellow Fields is vegan, gluten-, GMO-, and soy-free. Thus, it is suitable for most diets. Dark in colour and mild in taste, BlackGrain can be easily flavoured in different ways depending on the need. It works especially well with grains, pea protein and starch.
“BlackGrain from Yellow Fields can improve the nutritional values of food products, especially the protein and nutritional fibre content. It is at the top of innovative product development, and a sustainable and safe choice”, Valenzuela sums up.
For more information, please visit:
https://blackgrain.com/
EFSA’s opinion:
https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.2903/j.efsa.2020.6197
For more information, please contact:
Sanna Väisänen, Director, Corporate Communications and Sustainability, tel. +358 10 402 4041
Apetit is a food industry company firmly rooted in Finnish primary production. Our operations are based on a unique value chain: we create well-being with vegetables by offering healthy and tasty food solutions that make daily life easier. We also produce high-quality vegetable oils and rapeseed expellers for feeding stuff, and trade grain on the international markets. Apetit Plc’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. In 2019, Apetit Group’s net sales were EUR 313 million. Read more at apetit.fi.
Apetit Plc, press release, 7 December 2021 at 4:00 p.m. Apetit Group reached a B score for good environmental management in the evaluation of the global environmental organization CDP's Climate Change program. The Management score was given to Apetit after the company took part in a minimum version of the program. This was the first time Apetit participated in the CDP survey. “Sustainable food choices are at the core of Apetit’s goal-oriented climate work. For example, we are committed to cultivation development and to promotion of carbon farming in primary production, to focusing particularly on domestic vegetables and local fish, and to reduction of our direct CO2 emissions by 75 by 2025. We are glad to achieve the B score at disclosing the CDP at the first time”, says Sanna Väisänen, Director of Corporate Communications and Sustainability at Apetit. CDP's annual Climate Change assessment analyzes and collects company-specific information on climate change mitigation, identification of climate risks and opportunities, and emissions. CDP Score Report - Climate Change 2021 (pdf) For further information, please contact: Sanna Väisänen, Director, Corporate Communications and Sustainability, tel. +358 10 402 4041 Apetit is a food industry company firmly rooted in Finnish primary production. Our operations are based on a unique and sustainable value chain: we create well-being with vegetables by offering tasty food solutions that make daily life easier. We also produce high-quality vegetable oils and rapeseed expellers for feedstuff, and trade grain on the international markets. Apetit Plc’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. In 2020, the Group’s net sales were EUR 293 million.
Apetit Plc, press release 3 December 2021 at 09:00 a.m.Apetit is expanding its Baltic Sea Commitment made to the Baltic Sea Action Group in 2019. The commitment, which is currently being updated, will expand from fields to waterways, thus also covering the development and expansion of the use of domestic local fish in the Apetit product range. “In practice, this means that Apetit’s product development will pay special attention to fish choices that promote the maintenance of the ecological balance of waterways and the reduction of nutrient load in waterways. At the same time, Apetit makes it possible for consumers to choose from a wide range of sustainable fish,” says Sanna Väisänen, Director of Corporate Communications and Sustainability at Apetit. The use of local fish benefits the waterways, as eutrophication is one of the main sources of harm to the well-being of our waterways. Eutrophication refers to the overgrowth of algae caused by excessive nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which leads to, for example, turbidity, oxygen deficiency and a decrease in the diversity of living organisms. “We have invested heavily in the productisation of local fish, and therefore it was a natural choice for us to extend the Baltic Sea Commitment directly to waterways and products based on local fish. The positive effects will be reflected in both the Baltic Sea and inland waters,” Väisänen says. Apetit’s product family of local fish was born out of the desire to utilise the fish caught in Lake Pyhäjärvi in Säkylä as part of fish stock management. Today, the product family includes freshwater fish fingers and fish cakes, Särkisen fish balls and Baltic Sea fish fingers made from herring caught in the Baltic Sea, which were launched this autumn. “We are pleased that Apetit has selected local fish caught in the Baltic Sea as a raw material for familiar everyday products. We hope that local fish will permanently gain the appreciation they deserve on dinner tables,” says Michaela Ramm-Schmidt, Managing Director of BSAG. Focus on improving soil fertility Apetit’s commitment has previously focused on producing information that can be used in the contract farming of field vegetables, particularly when it comes to soil fertility improvement and carbon sequestration. These efforts are currently being put into practice in the ongoing projects at Apetit’s Räpi experimental farm. “The goals of the research projects include producing information and practices for improving soil fertility and water resource management as well as developing carbon farming, particularly in the cultivation of field vegetables,” says Väisänen. When training its contract growers, Apetit’s utilises the e-college for regenerative farming, which has been produced by BSAG with the help of a wide range of partners. “We are eagerly waiting for the results from the Räpi experimental farm, as scientific data on the regenerative methods of vegetable cultivation is still quite new and therefore very interesting,” says Ramm-Schmidt. Apetit will include the best cultivation practices identified in the research projects in its cultivation instructions for contract growers as well as provide all contract growers training in cultivation methods that will improve soil fertility and carbon sequestration. These methods are used to improve soil’s capacity to absorb water, nutrients and carbon. One of the goals is to ensure that the soil retains nutrients and supplies plants with them as efficiently as possible while preventing the nutrients from running off into waterways. For further information, please contact: Apetit Plc: Sanna Väisänen, Director, Corporate Communications and Sustainability, tel. +358 10 402 4041 BSAG: Irina Niinivaara, Corporate Relations Manager, tel. +358 40 664 1625 Apetit is a food industry company firmly rooted in Finnish primary production. Our operations are based on a unique and sustainable value chain: we create well-being with vegetables by offering tasty food solutions that make daily life easier. We also produce high-quality vegetable oils and rapeseed expellers for feedstuff, and trade grain on the international markets. Apetit Plc’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. In 2020, the Group’s net sales were EUR 293 million.
Apetit Plc, Press release, on 22 October 2021 at 10:00 a.m.Apetit Plc will publish its Business Review for January-September 2021 on Friday 29 October 2021 at 8.30 a.m. A separate press conference in relation to the Business Review will not be arranged. Apetit Plc For further information, please contact: Sanna Väisänen, Director, Corporate Communications and Sustainability, tel. +358 10 402 4041 Apetit is a food industry company firmly rooted in Finnish primary production. Our operations are based on a unique and sustainable value chain: we create well-being with vegetables by offering tasty food solutions that make daily life easier. We also produce high-quality vegetable oils and rapeseed expellers for feeding stuff, and trade grain on the international markets. Apetit Plc's shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. In 2020, Apetit Group's net sales were EUR 293 million.