The Osuuskunta Maitosuomi cooperative is part of the Valio Group and is owned by about 2,400 dairy farm entrepreneurs in a wide area that spans from Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia to North Karelia and from northern Pirkanmaa to Ylä-Kainuu.
The raw milk volume produced by Maitosuomi’s member farms in 2018 was about 888m liters, about half of the total raw milk produced within the Valio Group. The average milk production of the farms was 311,000 liters. A fleet of 35 milk trucks collect the milk.
Finnish dairy farms own Valio through regional cooperatives, and Valio pays all of its operating profit to the farms through the cooperatives. The Osuuskunta Maitosuomi cooperative holds 42.7% of Valio’s shares, making it Valio’s biggest shareholder.
The board of directors of the Osuuskunta Maitosuomi cooperative is comprised of dairy farmers. The Chairman of the board is Mikko Heikkinen from Lapinlahti, and the vice chairman is Hannu Hokkanen from Kangasniemi.
Osuuskunta Maitosuomi is headquartered in Lapinlahti and the CEO is Ilpo Lukkarinen.
The cooperative’s business operations include investment activities within Valio’s ownership, milk accounting, financial management, owner services for dairy farms, farm tank services, and milk collection.
The cooperative’s official languages are Finnish and Swedish.
“Our goal is to be the trendsetter and frontrunner in Finnish milk production. Maitosuomi creates an opportunity for its owners to succeed as part of the Valio milk chain. We produce Finnish food that is safe and in an ethical and sustainable manner,” chairman of the board Mikko Heikkinen said.
CEO Ilpo Lukkarinen said, “During the first part of the year we have worked with the owner administration and personnel to define the new cooperative’s future direction, targets and concrete activities. The highest possible producer price is one of the key goals. We will cost effectively offer dairy farm entrepreneurs services that will help in farm development and services they hope to get from the cooperative.”
Of the 23 milk-producer members of the Valio Supervisory Board, 10 are from Osuuskunta Maitosuomi. The chairman of the supervisory board, dairy farmer Esa Kotala, from Lapua, is a member of the Maitosuomi board of directors. Dairy farmer Jarno Kämäräinen, from Kiuruvesi, is the Maitosuomi member that sits on Valio’s four-member board of directors.