Vaasan + Vaasan: Publishes Annual Report 2008

Espoo / FI. (vv) The Vaasan + Vaasan Group has published its Annual Report for 2008. It was an eventful year of growth for the Group. Vaasan + Vaasan had a turnover of 416 million EUR and it employed approximately 3’200 people. The Group launched a number of important new and innovative products.

Sales growth was good in Fresh Bakery Products and the company increased its market share. The units in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania all had a good year as well. The Bake-Off business area continued to grow steadily. The Group gained a strong new foothold on the Norwegian food service market by acquiring Culinor AS, a leading company in the industry. The growth in the operations in Sweden also continued. The Crisp Bread business area continued to show stable development. Weaker currencies in some markets brought some additional uncertainly, but the long-term outlook in this area remains positive.

Vaasan + Vaasan launched a business area –driven organisation on January 01, 2009 in place of the previous country-driven organisation. This reorganisation should strengthen the Group´s growth potential in the main market areas.

The global economic crisis is likely to bring continued turbulence, but also new opportunities, which Vaasan + Vaasan will seek to take advantage of. Success here will call for new ways of thinking, reacting rapidly, and bold initiatives. The Group´s job now is to grasp these opportunities with both hands and because of our skilled personnel we will continue to bake the consumers’ favourite products (…Vaasan + Vaasan told us in the end of June).

Info: Vaasan + Vaasan: Annual Report 2008 (PDF, 24 pages, 2’271 KB)