If you’re in Finland or planning to visit in future, let me tell you about the plant-based products scene here. The availability of plant-based alternatives in grocery stores has increased exponentially in the last 4 – 5 years. Hmm, around the same time I moved to Finland – a nice coincidence. Now we have so many different brands selling plant based products, it’s hard to choose. In this post, I focus only on plant based Finnish brands and our top picks:
1- Gold and Green
Gold&Green started out in Helsinki and is known for the revolutionary plant protein made from Nordic oats and legumes. Our favourites are Delikaura – readymade oat bits, so tasty and can be used in almost any main dish! Wraps, subs, tacos, salads, soups, on pizza etc. They come in 3 flavours (chili-ginger, smoked bbq, truffle). Just need to heat ’em up! The main product is pulled-oats ‘Nyhtökaura’. Another product of theirs I truly loved were the pulled oat balls, which are sadly, not in store anymore.
Did I mention high in protein?
Unfortunately, in 2022, the company was sold to Finnish dairy company Valio – so we are not sure about the future of these products. I suggest another local brand – Tasty Choice. They make really good ‘meatballs’ and plant-based burgers. The products can be found in the vegan section in several big supermarkets.
2- Vöner
Award-winning Finnish product – also a junk food vegan favourite! You will most likely find this seitan based product to eat with pizzas and other fast-food. Vöner is available in most big grocery stores in Finland. We love the curry slices and use it to make a quick stir-fry or wok meal now and then.
They have some different versions of this and also a new ‘crushed’ version. Other products include Ranch sauce and Mayo. All their products are vegan.
Ready-made Vöner sandwiches are also found in some stores and these are super good – I wish they were more widely available. Vöner is made out of wheat protein and is literally full of protein. Do people still think plant-based food doesn’t have enough protein? Check out the next one too.
3- Beanit – Härkis
Another revolutionary plant protein from Finland, which comes from local fava beans [Härkäpapu in Finnish]. Härkis is the name of the products made out of processed fava beans, and they most often also contain pea protein. The main product – Beanit chunks are very meaty and dense and extremely high in protein. It’s available in a couple of flavours and a great addition to meals.
Recipes (in Finnish) HERE.
4- Friendly Vikings
First of all, love the name. They are the Friendly Vikings, not the savage ones and they make delicious plant-based yoghurt and beverages from Nordic oats. Pretty good oat lattes. The Mango and Vanilla Greek style O’gurt are so good, I have to tell you about them. The oat yoghurt comes in small containers and make a good snack – they are super smooth, creamy and consistent! Unfortunately, the product availability in different stores is poor.
5- Planti /OddlyGood
Sweden has Oatly but Finland has Planti! And Aito.. Personally, I buy Planti products the most. These brands make alternatives to dairy products – including milks, yoghurt, cooking cream and various oat snacks. All made from local Nordic oats. Oats are life!
I used Planti oat milks and creams also before I was actually vegan, they have a neutral taste and are affordable products. I liked the Planti oat latte too. The cooking creams come in nice different flavours. Oh, and the mango Soy yogurt is delicious!
Alternatives: Fazer/Aito brand oat milks have a strong oaty taste and many cafes serve it with coffee.
Plant-based Finnish brands
These are our picks of some of the best plant based Finnish products. Which ones are your favourites?
Note that all the products here are vegan. ‘Plant-based’ and ‘vegan’ terms are used interchangeably in this case. Often, it is confusing with all the labels on products but something that is 100% plants is vegan, of course. In Finland, there are many terms as I list below – look out for these when grocery shopping:
- Vegaaninen – Vegan.
- 100% kasviperäinen – this means the product is 100% plant based and is vegan.
- Vege – another label that just means ‘veggie’. Products with this term should be vegan, but in odd cases are not.
- Kasvis – means vegetarian and thus might include milk or egg, so check the ingredients for bold terms.
- Maidoton – dairy free.
- Sopii vegaaneille – suitable for vegans.
- V / VE – labels denoting vegan item on menus.
PS. I review a lot of products individually on Abillion, a free vegan food and product review app that also raises money for donation. Check it out and sign up with our invite code VEGANHAVEN. More info on our Resources page.
Last updated on August 20th, 2024
Your blog post on plant-based Finnish brands is so helpful! I’m planning a trip to Finland next year, and I’m excited to try some of the delicious plant-based food that the country has to offer. I’m especially interested in trying Gold&Green Foods’ pulled oats products and Rooty’s potato-based noodles and rice. Thanks for sharing your tips!
you’re welcome! Gold & green sold out to Valio but you can still find their products with a different packaging. I will soon make a part II for this post as there are several new brands worth trying in Finland : )
Travelling to Finland soon so this as a big help!
Good to hear! We also have a vegan Helsinki guide with restaurant suggestions! Let me know if you need more help or tips for Finland 🙂 @veganhaventravel /Instagram
https://veganhaventravel.com/vegan-helsinki-travel-guide/