Finnish ketchup factory switches to biogas

A food and drink manufacturer in the Finnish capital Helsinki has switched from natural gas to biogas in its ketchup production. The move aims to reduce the company’s environmental impact.

The Meira factory located in Vallila, a central neighbourhood of Helsinki, Finland, previously used natural gas – a fuel that does not result in particulate or sulphur dioxide emissions. It has now made the switch to carbon dioxide free biogas.

“At Meira we also want to promote sustainable urban development in our operations. Biogas is therefore a natural choice for us and switching to it an important step towards sustainable productions,” said Patrik Lindholm, production director at Meira, in a statement from Gasum.

The biogas is sold and delivered by Suomen Kaasuenergia, a Finnish company that sells and delivers both natural gas and biogas to industry, property developers, housing companies, restaurants and consumers.

“The significance of ecological aspects has become emphasised even further in consumers' purchasing behaviour and biogas is an excellent match to this trend,” said Pekka Karinen, Suomen Kassuenergia’s sales manager.

“Many food industry companies have switched to biogas as this enables them to create added value for their products thanks to an environmentally friendly production process. In a factory like the Meira one located close to the city centre, biogas is a great way of making production more environmentally friendly.”

Gasum is a major Finnish biogas producer, with 12 biogas plants of its own and 3 partnership plants. “Gasum biogas is a carbon-neutral fuel made from fully renewable feedstocks sourced from industrial and municipal side streams,” said Max Miilakangas, Gasum sales manager.

“We’re living in an era where ecological choices are more important than ever, and the use of biogas has increased considerably in the past few years. That’s something we’re very happy about.”