Helsinki / FI. (fg) Finland´s Fazer Group has renewed its Fazer Café concept, including the appearance, product range and service. The new Fazer Café draws upon the tradition of the first cafeteria founded by Karl Fazer in Helsinki in 1891 without forgetting modern winds from the café life of major European cities. Fazer Café, which has been serving local people in the area for 54 years, has been completely refurbished.
The interior of Fazer Café Munkkivuori has been turned into a light Nordic interior with Art Deco influences. In addition to traditional and established café delicacies, the product range is supplemented by a variety of speciality coffees, smoothies, lunch salads, savoury sandwiches and hand-made chocolates and pastries. The cafeteria also has a licence to serve alcoholic beverages. A rewarding experience is guaranteed by first-class service and premises where every detail is carefully considered and stylised, right down to the uniforms; the cafeteria personnel´s uniforms have been designed by the famous Finnish clothes designer Samu Jussi Koski.
«Through our new concept, we wish to introduce the café atmosphere of large European cities to Helsinki in the spirit of Karl Fazer. We have launched a new host service model in Fazer Café Munkkivuori, where «cafeteria hostesses» receive customers, tell them about our selection, serve the orders at the table and to whom customers can turn if they wish to order something more. It will, of course, still be possible to get served flexibly at the counter and our selection includes many snacks and lunch alternatives», says Päivi Harmaakorpi, manager of the Fazer Cafés + Shops business.
Karl Fazer educated himself in St. Petersburg, Berlin and Paris and founded a cafeteria in Helsinki, the like of which had never before been seen in Finland. Fazer´s new cafeterias are also reaching for the same metropolitan and international atmosphere.
A meeting place for decades
Fazer Café Munkkivuori has been in the same location since 1959, when Finland´s first shopping centre was completed. In its early years, the Fazer Café was a small confectionery which expanded over time, and its operations gradually became more cafeteria-like. In the 1980s, the cafeteria included also an ice-cream bar. Since an expansion in the 1990s, the café has had 50 places for customers.
From the beginning, Fazer´s classic cafeteria in Munkkivuori has been a popular meeting place which has provided its clientele with unforgettable memories, moments and meetings. Fazer Café is an inseparable part of the history of the area and it is frequently mentioned in fictional works about Munkkivuori. The first metro station in Helsinki was excavated under the Munkkivuori shopping centre, but it was never taken into use.
«To set off today´s hurried life, consumers seek enjoyment and sensations, both during the work week and in their leisure time. Appreciation of food and coffee is increasing, and people will not settle for the ordinary. The business idea behind the new Fazer Café concept is crystallised in the sentence «Love at first bite» – we offer our customers a rich and modern café experience while charming them with tastes», says Päivi Harmaakorpi.
After Fazer Café Munkkivuori, other new Fazer Cafés following the new concept will be opened in the Helsinki Exhibition and Convention Centre and Itis shopping centre. New cafeterias are being planned for the centres of major cities, not only in Finland, but also in Sweden and Russia.
The new cafeterias will operate under the new Fazer Cafés + Shops business unit, established at the beginning of the year. The new business units include cafeterias, local bakeries operating in connection with shops, and bakery shops visible in the streetscape, the first of which in Finland was opened on Tehtaankatu in Helsinki towards the end of last year. The aim of the business is to grow in the next few years in Finland, Sweden and Russia.
