Today, Viking Malt Group officially inaugurated its brand new malting plant in Lahti, Finland. Two years ago, the largest malting group in Scandinavia laid the foundation stone for a new production plant with an annual capacity of about 85,000 tons of malt. (inside.beer, 16.6.2021)
The new facility is going to replace a 60-year old malting also located in Lahti of about the same size. “It became more and more evident that our current plant is coming to the end of its usual lifetime. So therefore we had to do something dramatic,” explains Kasper Madsen, CEO of Viking Malt Group.
The new plant enables the production of base malts, a wide selection of specialty malts as well as Sprau, Viking Malt's malted faba bean innovation. In addition, the modern factory supports the sustainability strategy of Viking Malt with improved energy efficiency and a better working environment from a health and safety point of view.
Pär-Gustaf Relander, owner and Chairman of the Board says that opening a new plant in Lahti, Finland, is a significant milestone in Viking Malt's history and a step forward in the company's long term strategy of building a sustainable business for the generations to come.
Viking Malt sells its products globally to the brewing, distilling and food industries. The company has a long history and is today owned by Polttimo (62,5 %), a privately held family company owned in the 5th generation by the Finnish Relander family, and Svenska Lantmännen (37,5 %), a Swedish agricultural cooperative owned by 19,000 Swedish farmers.
Viking Malt Group has production in 5 countries, in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Lithuania as well as two plants in Poland with a total annual production capacity of 610 000 tons. 260 employees create a turnover of about EUR 300 million. Viking Malt is the largest malting company in the Baltic Rim, 5th largest in Europe and 9th in the world. It is amongst the leading companies in specialty malts in the global market.
