In 2024, Valio’s business environment was affected by uncertain global politics and the weak economic situation in Finland. Despite the challenging business environment, Valio’s net sales increased slightly to EUR 2,278.5 million and exceeded the net sales record set in 2023 (EUR 2,277.6 million). The milk return, which measures profitability, was also at a very good level.
“The good development in exports compensated for Finland’s sluggish consumer demand. The slight increase in net sales and the good profitability were also driven by successful product portfolio development, strong brands and the performance of our own operations. During the year, we made a number of decisions to improve productivity and Valio’s long-term competitiveness. Investments brought good news to many sites, especially to Eastern part of Finland but, unfortunately, we also had to make some unpleasant decisions to close some production plants. A particular success in 2024 was the Food 2.0 project in which we engaged more than 100 partners to develop the food system of the future and promote the competitiveness of Finnish food exports,” CEO Annikka Hurme summarises the year.
Valio’s financial success is measured with a milk margin* and a milk return**. The milk margin amounted to EUR 982 million (EUR 983 million), and the milk return was 52.2 cents per litre (51.6 c/l). In 2024, Valio achieved its second highest milk return ever.
Dairy farm costs remain high
Valio is owned by around 3,200 dairy farms through cooperatives, and Valio pays its operating profit to the farms through the cooperatives.
After the Covid-19 pandemic and the outbreak of war in Ukraine, dairy farm costs skyrocketed, and the profitability of many dairy farms plunged. The situation is now a little brighter than it was a few years ago, but costs at the end of 2024 were still around 20% higher than at the beginning of 2021.
After a challenging start to the year, in the autumn Valio was able to increase the milk price paid to cooperatives, thanks to the good development of its business, although the whole year’s average milk price of 50.9 cents per litre was clearly below the 2023 average price (53.7 c/l).
Strategy progressed as planned at home and abroad
Valio’s vision is to be the leading dairy and food company with loved brands and innovative solutions. We offer sustainable, interesting and tasty milk- and plant-based products to consumers, and we operate as a partner of good food professionals through our Valio Aimo® wholesale business. We also help international industrial customers to develop premium products with our specialty milk powders.
Valio’s domestic net sales were EUR 1,485 million (1,499 million), and Valio’s international net sales were EUR 794 million (778 million).
“In our home markets of Finland, Sweden and Estonia, we actively leveraged our strong brands and maintained a strong market position. We also continued to develop the competitiveness of the Valio Aimo® wholesale business,” notes Valio’s CEO Annikka Hurme.
In Finland, Valio launched e.g. the Valio Keittiön product portfolio, which brings together both the classics and new cooking and baking products. Sales of Gold&Green products increased thanks to the launch of Tender Strips.
The PROfeel® portfolio achieved net sales of about EUR 85 million. Most sales come from Finland, but the protein products are already being sold in nine different markets.
In Estonia, the launch of the Alma brand quark bar was a great success, and cheese exports developed well. In Sweden, new ready-to-use Valio Middagsmagi meal sauces were launched, and we also introduced cheese sauces to the delight of consumers. Cheese exports from Finland to the United States were steady. Valio obtained marketing authorisations for consumer packaged baby food in China, and exports from Finland started at the end of the year. In the early part of the year, weaker consumer demand and port strikes slowed exports to China, but sales were back on target towards the end of the year.
Oddlygood, owned by Valio and Mandatum Asset Management, achieved net sales of over EUR 50 million. In October, Oddlygood took another significant step towards becoming a European market leader by acquiring the UK-based Rude Health, whose plant-based products are sold in more than 40 countries.
Valio exports account for about a quarter of Finland’s food exports
In 2024, the value of Valio’s exports from Finland was about EUR 513 million, or about 25% of Finland’s total food exports. Valio’s biggest export products are industrial milk powder and industrial butter, which food industry customers use in their own production. The global market prices of these products therefore have a significant impact on Valio’s profitability. The price of industrial butter rose to a record high during the year. The price of skimmed milk powder, on the other hand, remained fairly stable. Valio’s strategy is to increase the exports of so-called specialty milk powders and thus increase the value added of exports. In 2024, exports of specialty milk powders grew well.
“All in all, export sales of industrial products – especially butter and specialty milk powders – performed well. Valio gained new customers for specialty milk powders in South East Asia,” notes Hurme.
Productivity improvements and investments
In early 2024, Valio entered into change negotiations aiming to improve profitability; the negotiations affected its headquarters functions as well as technical services supporting production, maintenance and factory services. In addition, separate change negotiations were held at individual production plants during the year to improve production efficiency and profitability.
During the year, Valio advanced several production-related development projects and investments.
In projects extending to 2026, Valio invested EUR 60 million in the Lapinlahti cheese manufacturing process and EUR 70 million in modernising and overhauling the Seinäjoki powder plant. The investments will increase production capacity and improve operational efficiency and energy efficiency.
Valio decided to transfer the production of four sites to other locations to improve production efficiency and profitability. The production of juices and berry soups as well as plant-based snacks and cooking products will be transferred from the Helsinki and Turku plants to Riihimäki. The Helsinki Pitäjänmäki warehouse operations will also be transferred to Riihimäki. The Vantaa production plant operations will be relocated to Joensuu. The relocation of production and the closure of sites will be carried out in phases over the next few years.
Valio’s financial performance improvement programme, continuing to 2025, progressed in line with the targets. We are aiming for tens of millions of euros in annual profit improvement through hundreds of different measures. We are reducing costs, seeking cost-effective ways of operating, improving daily operating processes, and reducing time wastage, for example. We also actively advanced the major VALUE enterprise resource planning project.
In December, Valio was targeted by a serious cyberattack. The attack was quickly thwarted by Valio’s comprehensive IT security systems and practices; the attack was reported to the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman and Traficom, and a criminal complaint was filed with the police. Additionally, Valio contacted the individuals targeted in the data breach and instructed them on protecting their personal data. The investigation of the data breach is continuing through Valio’s own measures and those of the authorities.
Brisk progress in the manure gas business
Suomen Lantakaasu Oy, the joint venture of Valio and St1 Biokraft, acquired the majority shareholding in Nurmon Bioenergia Oy, in February. Atria Finland Ltd. continued as a minority shareholder. In August, the companies made a EUR 60+ million investment decision to build a biogas plant in Nurmo. Construction work started, and the plant is expected to be completed during 2026.
The investment decision for the Kiuruvesi biogas plant was made in November, and the actual construction of the plant started in early 2025. Completion of the plant is expected in 2026. Suomen Lantakaasu also decided to continue planning new plant projects in the Pedersöre-Kruunupyy and Nivala-Sievi areas.
Building the food system of the future through collaboration
In 2024, Valio launched Food 2.0, a project to develop the food system of the future and promote the competitiveness of Finnish food exports. Valio’s role is to lead the cooperation of the partner network as well as various research and development projects. Business Finland granted 10 million euros in funding for the project and also earmarked 20 million euros to finance projects in the partner network. The goal was to bring at least 100 food system-connected partners into the project – the goal was achieved in record time.
Valio’s sustainability work progressed
In May, Valio updated the sustainability programme for dairy farms. The focus areas will continue to be on improving animal welfare, reducing the farm’s carbon footprint, and biodiversity-supporting milk production. The update added additional importance and choices to the voluntary actions. Valio pays its owner entrepreneurs around 50 million euros annually for actions that exceeded statutory requirements.
Valio’s Climate Programme progressed as planned. According to the 2024 greenhouse gas inventory, emissions from the milk value chain in Finland decreased by 21% compared to 2019, when carbon removals are excluded, and by 25% when carbon removals from carbon farming are conservatively taken into account.
The Climate Programme’s Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions from energy use at production plants decreased by 44% from 2023. The decrease was driven by the transition to emission-free energy sources and improvements in energy efficiency. The Climate Programme’s indirect Scope 3 emissions decreased by 12% from 2023. Of this, the emissions reduction for Finnish raw milk was 12% and the emissions reduction for logistics was 7%. The emission reductions were driven by the increasing shift to zero-emission energy sources, improvements in transport efficiency, improved productivity and resource efficiency at dairy farms, and the removal of low-yielding fields from cultivation.
We monitor greenhouse gas emissions from dairy farms with the Carbo® Farm calculator. In total, around 2,200 farms calculated the carbon footprint of their own production; this corresponds to 80% of the milk received by Valio. In 2024, the use of the calculator was extended as a national tool to virtually the entire cattle sector. We also continued carbon farming training. There are now around 1,600 trained dairy farms and already 130,000 hectares of arable land within the scope of carbon farming.
Year 2025
Food is a global growth business due to population growth.
“Dairy product consumption is growing in emerging markets such as Asia, and plant-based product consumption in the western world. New national dietary recommendations continue to recognise the health benefits of dairy products and their role as a good source of nutrients. As a food company, Valio’s product range offers alternatives for all diets,” says Annikka Hurme about the outlook for the future.
In 2025, Valio’s strategic focus is on solutions to achieve new growth, improve operational efficiency and increase profitability.
“We want to strengthen our market leadership in Finland and Estonia and to grow in Sweden. Our Valio Aimo® wholesale unit aims to be a trailblazer in the Food Service market in Finland. In international markets, we are pursuing growth particularly in specialty milk powders and in the Oddlygood® and PROfeel® brands. We will continue to build the food system of the future and work towards a zero carbon footprint for milk by 2035. The Food 2.0 project and Suomen Lantakaasu will take Valio towards these targets,” sums up Hurme.
The operating environment in 2025 will remain challenging and difficult to predict. Geopolitical tensions affect global trade, and tighter EU regulation threatens to weaken Finland’s competitiveness in relation to the rest of the world. Finland is showing signs of a budding economic recovery, but food price competition remains fierce. The economy has already started picking up in many other countries, for example in Asia, where demand is growing.
Dairy farm costs are forecast to remain high also in the future. The good news is that dairy farm investments have recently shown signs of recovery.
“It is extremely important for Finland’s food security that young people also choose farming as a career. That is why we launched the Future Valio Farmers programme in 2025 for young dairy farmers and those who are considering entrepreneurship,” Hurme concludes.
Valio Group’s key figures in 2024
| 2024 | 2023 | Change | |
| Net sales, MEUR | 2 278 | 2 278 | 0.0 % |
| Milk margin, MEUR | 982 | 983 | -0.1 % |
| Milk return, c/l | 52.2 | 51.6 | 1.2 % |
| Milk volume, ML | 1 641 | 1 664 | -1.4 % |
| Equity-to-assets ratio | 56 % | 53 % | 3 % |
| Investments, MEUR | 153 | 79 | 94.2 % |
*Milk margin, MEUR =
Net sales less all other costs excluding the price paid to the co-operatives for raw milk, interest on shareholder loans, depreciation according to plan, supplementary payments to the pension fund, pension contribution refunds, and items not included in actual business operations, such as sales gains from sales of business operations, provisions, sales gains and losses from real estate sales, write-offs of non-current assets, costs arising from acquisitions of companies and business operations, and subsidiaries’ minority interest of the profit. The milk margin includes Valio Ltd’s taxes, with the tax share of the net profit corresponding to the amount of the average dividend percentage from the share capital, and taxes of subsidiaries. Taxes also include the cost effect of direct taxes resulting from depreciation deficit.
**Milk return, c/l =
Milk margin less estimated required financing for investments, and the figure is divided by the milk volume taken in from the owners of Valio Ltd.
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