Finnish food company Apetit is assessing whether to close its frozen pizza factory in the central town of Pudasjärvi.
In a statement, the frozen vegetables and ready meals supplier said it is “initiating change negotiations concerning all personnel” at the factory.
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The company invested around €2m ($2.3m) in the facility in 2022.
Despite that spending, Apetit said the factory’s “investment needs for basic renovations and replacement investments in production equipment remain significant and clearly exceed the amount of previous investments”.
Sales of its frozen pizzas have also fallen short of targets following the investment and the products’ relaunch, the group added.
In response, Apetit is looking at alternative locations and operating models in Finland such as contract manufacturing.
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By GlobalDataIf production shifts elsewhere, operations at the Pudasjärvi factory would end and the facility would be closed, the company said.
The plant has 21 permanent employees. Apetit said decisions on how production will be organised will come after the change negotiations conclude.
At present, all the company’s frozen pizzas are made at the Pudasjärvi factory.
In 2025, Apetit’s net sales increased 3% to €167.6m.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation improved by 32% to €21m and the company’s “operating result” rose 47% to €13.7m.
In October, Apetit agreed to buy Sweden’s Foodhills as part of plans to grow its frozen pea supply business.
Stripping out the effect of the Foodhills acquisition, Apetit’s operating result was €5.9m.
After publishing the results on 13 February, Apetit CEO Esa Mäki said: “Apetit group’s operating result, excluding the impact of the bargain purchase of Foodhills, clearly declined year-on-year.” Raw-material prices hit the company’s oilseeds business.
Nevertheless, the group’s overall profit for 2025 increased 5.8% to €9m, while earnings per share moved up to €1.44 from €1.37.
The group said it expects operating result to fall in 2026 versus 2025. It said the Foodhills takeover will bring additional costs and is anticipated to weigh on operating result.
