The quality of raw meat and product safety is improving enormously thanks to modern technology. Atria Oyj, a Finnish company operating in the food sector, is increasing its capacity and updating technology to better meet customer and consumer expectations.

The structure and technology at Atria Oyj's new poultry abattoir at Nurmo will fulfil the highest hygiene requirements. The investment is worth a total of 20 million euros. The extension will raise the capacity of the poultry unit and guarantee a high level of product safety thanks to the new technology. The processing capacity will be 9,000 birds an hour. The turkey and broiler lines will be renewed so that the birds will be processed completely separately from the moment they are received. With the increase in the level of automation the monitoring of each individual bird will improve. The investment will also increase the refrigeration capacity.

Transparent production chain

It is important for food safety and the availability of information on quality that the entire production chain be transparent. Atria wants to keep its entire production chain open and transparent in order to be able to meet consumer expectations. In the poultry production the entire production chain from the hens to the rearing plants is under fixed contract, and all the premises for the Atria Chick production chain have a quality system. Only vegetable-based wholemeal feed is used. The birds are not vaccinated or medicated. Not one case of salmonella has occurred in Finland, so the situation here is extremely good. In practice all the broiler products sold in Finland and produced from Finnish raw material are salmonella-free. All in all, the situation with regard to animal diseases in Finland is extremely good compared with the rest of Europe.

Finns eat more poultry

Finns ate 6 per cent more poultry last year than in 2001. The growth trend is expected to be the same this year. The consumption of broilers increased by 4 per cent last year and that of turkey by 25 per cent. The amount of turkey consumed in 2002 was about 16 per cent of the total consumption of poultry. Last year Finns ate 15 kg of broiler and turkey products per head. The amount is still quite a long way from the EU average of 21 kg/person. Consumption in Finland is expected to increase in the next few years and so approach the EU average.

Finns want their broiler and turkey products to be fresh. Finland has a great deal of experience in the production, logistics and marketing of fresh products. The proportion of frozen-food products in Finland is very small. Over 91% of the products found in shops are fresh natural or marinated strips, cubes or steak products packed by the industry.
Atria's turnover in 2003 is expected to rise to 850 million euros, 360 million of which will be accounted for by Sweden. The company employs an average of 3,600 people.

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