Apetit expands its Baltic Sea Commitment from fields to waterways
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.
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