Fazer Group has announced plans to shut its oat manufacturing facility in Kaarina and move its operations to Koria, south-east Finland.

With this move, the company intends to enhance the production efficiency of its Fazer Yosa oat products, as well as support its growth plans.

Fazer Yosa products are part of the Fazer Lifestyle Foods Business Area.

The company said that to meet the increasing demand for the oat products, a significant investment was required to upgrade the production capacity at the Kaarina facility. This would be difficult due to the factory’s current location.

As a result of this, the company has decided to close the facility.

Fazer Lifestyle Foods Supply Chain and Operations vice-president Heli Anttila said: “Non-dairy oat-based products play a key role in the growth of our business, both domestically and internationally. The total market for non-dairy products in Western Europe is growing at a yearly rate of over 17%.

“Our chief assets in the tightening competition are our strong expertise in the oat business, our consumer-centric product range and our strong brands.

“At the same time, we need to secure our positions in face of the stiffening competition; assure the competitiveness of our production; enable essential additional investments into production; and meet the tightening quality, safety and environmental requirements.”

Fazer has 23 permanent employees working at the facility and 25 employees hired on a fixed-term or on-call contracts.

It said that it will start collaboration negotiations with affected employees at the Kaarina factory. It expects the Kaarina factory to close by autumn this year.

Anttila said: “Increasing the efficiency of our production is necessary to our competitiveness. If we were to settle on closing the factory in Kaarina, we would want to secure for everyone the best possibilities for re-employment.

“We will liaise with the local employment administrations and offer employment at other Fazer units, wher possible.”

In June, Fazer Group agreed to purchase Scandinavian food products manufacturer Kaslink.

Located in Koria, Kaslink produces premium Scandinavian food products, including cooking products, drinks and snacks. It also has expertise in oat products.