Finland says no to Arla's 'Putin cheese'
Ritzau/The Local - [email protected]
Published: 17 Oct, 2014 CET.
Updated: Fri 17 Oct 2014 11:23 CET
Finnish food authorities have rejected the Danish dairy's plans to unload surplus cheese produced for Russia onto the Finnish market.
Danish dairy giant Arla thought it had found a solution to the negative impact of Russia’s ban on Western goods: send it to Finland.
But Finnish authorities have scuppered Arla’s plans to unload cheese produced for the Russian market onto the Finns.
According to Finnish broadcaster YLE, the Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira rejected Arla’s proposal to sell Russian-labelled cheese in Finland. Arla’s Finnish competitor Valio, however, was given approval for a similar move. Valio, according to YLE, is much more dependent on the Russian market share than Arla.
The director of Arla’s Finland unit, Reijo Kiskola, told YLE that the dairy company would accept the decision.
“We would have liked to introduce our so-called Putin cheese products, but it was not permitted,” Kiskola said.
Arla announced in August that it was cutting 79 jobs as a direct result of the Russian ban on Western food and agriculture products. The company has ten dairies in Denmark that produce goods for Russia.
“Production for the Russian market has been experiencing strong growth over the past years so it can definitely be felt when a market like Russia is suddenly shut completely down,” Arla’s senior vice president, Lars Dalsgaard, said at the time.
Comments
See Also
Danish dairy giant Arla thought it had found a solution to the negative impact of Russia’s ban on Western goods: send it to Finland.
But Finnish authorities have scuppered Arla’s plans to unload cheese produced for the Russian market onto the Finns.
According to Finnish broadcaster YLE, the Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira rejected Arla’s proposal to sell Russian-labelled cheese in Finland. Arla’s Finnish competitor Valio, however, was given approval for a similar move. Valio, according to YLE, is much more dependent on the Russian market share than Arla.
The director of Arla’s Finland unit, Reijo Kiskola, told YLE that the dairy company would accept the decision.
“We would have liked to introduce our so-called Putin cheese products, but it was not permitted,” Kiskola said.
Arla announced in August that it was cutting 79 jobs as a direct result of the Russian ban on Western food and agriculture products. The company has ten dairies in Denmark that produce goods for Russia.
“Production for the Russian market has been experiencing strong growth over the past years so it can definitely be felt when a market like Russia is suddenly shut completely down,” Arla’s senior vice president, Lars Dalsgaard, said at the time.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.