The Finland-based food group HKScan has announced it will rebrand itself as HKFoods.
This announcement was made at the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on 18 April, following the recent sale of its Swedish operations.
In January, Lantmännen, an agri-food group based in Sweden, finalised a deal to acquire HKScan’s assets within the country.
CEO Juha Ruohola stated the new name will “continue the company’s traditions and reflects one of the company’s core consumer brands, as well as the company’s industry and strategic reference.”
Ruohola, who was appointed permanent CEO of HKScan last month, also mentioned: “We continue our strategic journey to become a versatile food company. HKFoods is strongly Finnish at its core, but an internationally operating company.”
The company assured that the rebranding will not affect its consumer brands such as HK, Kariniemen, and Via in Finland, and Rose in Denmark.
The deployment of the company’s new name, along with its logo, website, and email addresses, is scheduled to begin in stages from May, following the registration of the name. A special stock exchange announcement will be made subsequent to the name registration.
Ruohola was confirmed as CEO after serving as the interim chief executive, succeeding Tero Hemmilä, who left in September amidst statements from HKScan that “urgent measures” were required to “improve the profitability of the core business and to strengthen the balance sheet.”
In March, HKScan revealed considerations for divesting its Danish operations. The company noted in a stock exchange statement that it was in “preliminary negotiations regarding the divestment of its Danish business” but also acknowledged that there was “no certainty” regarding the outcome or the terms of any potential transaction.
During the same month, HKScan reduced its workforce by 45 at a poultry plant in Finland, as part of its investments in automation aimed at “improve profitability”.
For the year ending 31 December, the Finnish company recorded a total EBITDA of €52.7m ($60.7m today), up from €30.1m in 2022. Nonetheless, it reported a loss of €15.6m for 2023, which was a marginal improvement from a loss of €16m the previous year.
