Finland-based food group Valio is looking to expand in the US on the back of a new plant-based dairy product.

The group, which has recently changed its name in the country from Finlandia Cheese to Valio USA to better represent a broader product range, is seeking to make inroads into the US foodservice market through its new plant-based cheese product Oddlygood.

The company is targeting pizzerias with the mozzarella-style product.

But Mari Meriluoto, director of marketing and business development at Valio USA, told just-food other product launches could follow.

“Plant-based is our focus at the moment but there could be other products down the road. Lactose-free products for example,” she said.

Valio is best known in the US for its Finlandia cheese and butter, which have been sold there since the 1950s under previous ownership. Valio acquired Finlandia in 1992 and has operated under that name in the US until now.

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The Finlandia brand names will remain the same following the company name change.

Valio, the biggest dairy business in Finland, suggested the new name in the US will “facilitate the company’s expansion into new, innovative categories and provide a closer connection between the subsidiary and its parent company in corporate branding and messaging”.

Outside of the remit of Valio USA, the parent company also plans to take “value-added dairy ingredients and solutions” to the US market, such as lactose-free milk powders. In April, Valio and the North American ingredient distributor Palmer Holland partnered for sales, marketing and distribution of lactose-free milk powders.

The operation in the US, 30-strong and based in New Jersey, sells into retailers – with Costco its largest customer – and the foodservice channel. The company does have a nationwide presence but 80-90% of its sales are in the country’s north east.

Meriluoto acknowledged the US is not the country’s largest international market.

“It’s a growth market but relatively small for us on the back of limited categories compared to markets such as Sweden and Russia, which are much bigger,” she said.

She said that Valio’s new plant-based product could evolve into a retail offering but not necessarily with the country’s largest grocers.

“Our product range is premium and high-end, behind the glass in deli counters,” she said.

The company uses co-packers in the US and imports food from Finland and Meriluoto said a new production partner would need to be found in the country if it wanted to start selling shorter shelf-life dairy products there.

Meriluoto  said the expansion into foodservice has been slowed down by Covid-19 and described the push into pizzerias as targeting “low hanging fruit” and providing channel access at lower risk.

But she said the company is looking to expand in the US generally.

“There is definitely a change in the way the parent company views us. There is desire to aggressively grow [here] through plant-based.”