The food company Raisio will sell its plant protein business and the Härkis® and Beanit® brands, under which plant protein products have been marketed, to the Finnish dairy and food company Valio. The price of the deal is €7 million, which will be paid to Raisio in cash upon the transfer of the business.
“Promoting the food transition […] will continue to be key parts of Raisio’s strategy and operations”
The companies have signed a purchase and sale agreement for the sale of the plant protein business, the related fixed assets and the Härkis® and Beanit® fava bean brands. The fixed assets include, among other things, the equipment of the factory producing plant protein products in Kauhava.
The plant protein business employs 16 people, who will be transferred to Valio as existing employees as part of the deal. Raisio has been a lessee in the Kauhava factory property and will sublease the property to Valio. The business is expected to be transferred to the new owner during March 2025.
The net sales of the plant protein business were €4.5 million in 2024 and €5.5 million in 2023. In 2024 and 2023, the comparable EBIT of the plant protein business was negative: in 2024, the loss was €-2.6 million and in 2023, €-3.2 million. The sale of the business is not expected to have a significant impact on the 2025 EBIT.
Raisio’s strategy and operation plans
“Promoting the food transition with plant-based food and innovating new things will continue to be key parts of Raisio’s strategy and operations, even though we have now decided to divest this business. We are currently in the final stages of our strategy process and will present our future strategy in March and in more detail at our Capital Markets Day planned for the first half of 2025,” says Pasi Flinkman, CEO of Raisio.
“The food system of the future will include plant-based and animal-based food, as well as food produced by cellular agriculture. All of these are needed to provide enough food for a globally growing population. This is the foundation of Valio’s strategy, which sees us growing from a dairy company into a food company.
Valio’s expansion into plant-based
This business acquisition is one step on our path of growth. A strong and innovative product selection has been Valio’s foundation for 120 years. In addition to milk-based products, we as a food company are now also investing in growth in foods based on other raw materials,” says Valio’s Executive Vice President Tuomas Salusjärvi.
Raisio acquired Verso Food Oy and the Härkis® and Beanit® brands in the spring of 2021. Verso Food was acquired to strengthen Raisio’s strategy, which at the time was under development and in which plant proteins became one of the key areas.
Recently, it was announced that Valio has entered a partnership with Swedish biotech company Melt&Marble to develop fermented fats for plant-based foods, aiming to enhance the sensory properties of animal-free alternatives.
