Cuisine takes Finland to world stage

The Finnish Chef Association has published Finnish food recipes (‘Suomiruoka-reseptiikka’) to promote Finland’s country branding and food exports. The recipes will serve Finnish embassies and missions around the world and those organising international meetings and events in Finland. When ready, the material will be freely available to everyone. The material was produced under an agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

The material consists of ten menus that can be used as such or the courses can be combined according to one’s own preferences. The menus take into account the Finnish seasons, with the courses designed according to what is best at each time of the year. Besides the menus, the material contains individual traditional Finnish foods and takes account of the holidays and feasts that are important for the Finns.

- It is important to show our culinary culture to international visitors and other target groups through practice. The best way to do this is by offering foods that are typical for the Finnish culinary culture at various kinds of events and by taking the seasons, holidays and feasts into account. Food is an important tool for diplomacy,” says Annariina Kukkonen from the Protocol Services of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 

Finnish food exports are growing, and the target to further increase these is also included in the Government Programme. Travelling has again picked up after the pandemic and growing numbers of international events are being held in Finland. To create a comprehensive experience for foreign visitors, they must also find Finnish flavours on their plates. Finnish culinary culture is rich and unique, but not very well known outside the country’s borders. This is why we should keep highlighting both Finland’s country image and Finnish food. 

- Catering services for international meetings and events held in Finland still do not adequately highlight the Finnish culinary culture, raw materials and foods. We hope that the material we have now produced will encourage those organising events in Finland and Finland’s missions around the world to showcase Finnish cuisine and culture even more strongly, says Kirsi Viljanen from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. 

- This is a joint effort that the local associations have also supported with their traditional and local recipes, says Leena Pölkki from the Finnish Chef Association. In line with its strategy, the association’s mission is to promote the valuation and raise awareness of Finnish foods and speak for clean, straightforward and traceable domestic raw materials. 

The material is published on the website of the Finnish Chef Association. 

Inquiries:

Kirsi Viljanen, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry kirsi.viljanen@gov.fi tel. +358295162142
Annariina Kukkonen, Ministry for Foreign Affairs annariina.kukkonen@gov.fi tel. +358505957407
Leena Pölkki, Finnish Chef Association lahi@chefs.fi p. +358404137149