Orkla will move its famous Panda chocolate production from its Vaajakoski factory in Finland to Kalev factories in Estonia, bringing a €1 million investment to the Estonian operation.
The transfer will take place gradually between 2027 and 2030 and will include well-known Panda products such as Juhlapöydän Konvehteja, the Finnish brand’s assortment of chocolates. The production change was reported by Postimees Majandus.
Production will move in stages
Panda chocolate has been made at Vaajakoski, near Jyväskylä, since 1929. The factory’s chocolate production will be wound down in stages rather than stopped at once. The transition is scheduled to run from 2027 through 2030, allowing the products to be transferred to Orkla’s Kalev factories in Estonia while the Finnish site continues operating.
The move covers Panda’s chocolate range, including Juhlapöydän Konvehteja. The assortment is a long-established product in Finland, and its production will eventually take place in Estonia. The recipes and flavours are expected to remain unchanged for consumers, with the Estonian operation producing the products as closely as possible to their current form.
The long timetable gives Orkla time to prepare the Estonian factories for the additional work and to phase out chocolate production in Vaajakoski. The final transfer is not planned as an immediate closure of the Finnish facility. Vaajakoski will continue to manufacture other confectionery products after the chocolate line has moved.
Kalev operation to receive €1 million investment
Orkla will invest €1 million in its Estonian operation as it prepares to take on the additional chocolate production. The transfer is part of a wider programme to develop the group’s confectionery factory network and assign different products to the facilities best suited to make them.
Orkla says the factories will specialise in their own strengths to improve the cost efficiency and long-term competitiveness of its confectionery business. The review covers more than the Panda chocolate line. Production is being reorganised between the group’s sites in Finland and Estonia, with some granular production also moving from Estonia to Finland.
As part of that reorganisation, Vaajakoski will focus on licorice and pastille production after the chocolate line has moved. The site will therefore retain a role in Orkla’s manufacturing network, but with a different product mix. The change is intended to concentrate chocolate and other confectionery work at the facilities selected for those products.
“Our factories will specialise in their own strengths, and this will improve the cost efficiency and long-term competitiveness of our confectionery business,” said Jutta Karppi, chief executive of Orkla Suomi.
For Finnish consumers, the change will be gradual. The last Christmas season for Juhlapöydän products made domestically is expected to be in 2029. After the transfer, the products will continue to be made in Estonia with the aim of keeping them as close as possible to their current form.
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