Minister Leppä: Finland’s partnership with Grüne Woche promotes our food exports
In 2019 Finland will be present at Grüne Woche food fair in Berlin as a partner country. By this uniquely strong participation Finland aims for visibility as an attractive food tourism destination, land of abundant lakes and forests, and source of the purest northern flavours.
Germany is one of the main destinations for Finnish food exports. Now serious efforts to promote these exports will again be made by means of funding from the Food from Finland growth programme, co-financed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. This year Finnish foods have been sold by the German supermarket chain CITTI. The broad listing of products was part of the Enjoy Finland -Reinste Natur campaign launched in cooperation between Business Finland’s Food from Finland growth programme and Visit Finland. New Finnish food products are now available at Lieferello Online Shop of CITTI that delivers to the whole of Germany. Finnish food companies have also been active participants in various kinds of events for food sector professionals.
- Improving food trade balance and growth of exports are high on the Government’s agenda. Increasing the exports of high value added products is one way to improve the profitability of agriculture. In the latest budget negotiations additional funding was allocated to improving the conditions for exports, and the Grüne Woche partnership is one of the export promotion actions to be supported, says Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Jari Leppä.
The key assets in boosting food exports are the antibiotics-free production, responsibly produced functional milk, cereal, berry and fish products, and interesting alcohol brands and small breweries. At the Grüne Woche partner country stand, food is strongly linked to Finnish nature and tourism. The partnership project is the responsibility of the Central Organisation of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners MTK and its cooperation partners.
- The strong input in Grüne Woche next year supports the long-term effort to enhance Finland’s visibility and attraction in the European market area that is so important for us. My ministry is keen to participate in this work. By setting the example MTK contributes to a better understanding throughout the whole food chain of the growth opportunities of pure Finnish food on the global market, Minister Leppä says.
Inquiries:
Risto Lahti, Special Adviser, tel. +358 50 565 0424, risto.lahti(at)mmm.fi