160 years of Vaasan bread
In 1849
August Alexander Levon established Finland's first steam-powered mill in the City of Vaasa. Today
- 160 years later – VAASAN Oy is the largest bakery
business in Finland and the Baltic region, the largest thin crisp and second largest crisp bread producer
in the world and a significant Nordic producer of bake-off products.
2009
The
name Vaasan & Vaasan Oy will be replaced with
VAASAN Oy
VAASAN celebrates its 160th anniversary.
VAASAN Maitonäkki crisp bread 50 years.
Kotka crisp bread and thin crisp factory 40 years.
VAASAN
PIENI PYÖREÄ crisp bread 25 years.
VAASAN
KOTIUUNIN bake-off products 10 years.
2008
Vaasan
& Vaasan acquires Norwegian Culinor AS, the
market leader of bake-off products
in the food service -sector
2007
International
private equity investor, Lion Capital, became the new owner of the Vaasan
& Vaasan Group. Lion Capital is a recognised leader in investing in consumer businesses.
2006
Vaasan & Vaasan
acquired entire portfolio of Swedish bake-off producer Nordic Bake Off
AB and redeemed the minority shareholding of Delice Scandinavica
AB.
2005
Vaasan & Vaasan increased its stake in Lithuanian subsidiary UAB
Vilniaus
Duona
Plius
to 100 percent.
2004
CapVest Equity Partners Fund became the new
owner of Vaasan & Vaasan when EQT decided to sell Vaasan & Vaasan Group
in its entirety.
2004
100 years of Finnish VAASAN crisp bread production.
2003
Vaasan & Vaasan
acquired a majority of the leading Swedish marketer of frozen bake-off products
Delice
Scandinavica
AB.
2002
Vaasan & Vaasan
acquired Lithuania's largest bakery UAB Vilniaus Duona Plius.
1999
All operations were
organised under a new parent company Vaasan & Vaasan Oy.
150 years of VAASAN baking
traditions.
1998
A Nordic investor
EQT acquired the baking division from Cultor Oyj and
started to establish a new independent baking group – Vaasan & Vaasan.
1995
Operations expanded
into Latvia through acquisition of A/S Hanzas Maiznicas,
the largest company in Latvia's baking business.
1993
AS Leibur,
Estonia's largest baking company, was acquired.
1990
Production of fresh
bread started again after decades when Vaasan Bakeries, the country-wide bakery
chain of local bakeries was founded.
1988
The product range
was expanded when a specialised bake-off production unit was acquired.
1982
Suomen Sokeri (Cultor
Oyj
since 1989) acquired Vaasamills.
1981
Vaasan Höyrymylly
was renamed as Vaasamills.
1952
The FINN CRISP
brand was established by Huhtamäki. FINN CRISP was
transferred to Vaasan Höyrymylly along with the
acquisition of Huhtamäki bread production in 1967.
1926
“Vaasan bread”
advertising begins. Vaasan bread poems will become familiar to Finns during the
decades.
1904
Levon's vision of a bakery became reality
when Vaasan Höyryleipomo Oy was established. In the
beginning the new bakery produced a wide range of wheat bread, rye bread and
crisp bread. Later on the company focused on producing crisp bread.
1849
The young chemist
August Alexander Levon received the permission from the City of
Vaasa to establish Finland's first steam-powered mill. The mill first focused
on milling rye for bread producers. Levon was interested in
establishing a steam bakery next to the mill, but under the legislation then in
force, baking was the work of artisans and as such was not entitled to factory
rights.
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