History
At Martin and Katriina’s ‘Karviainen Farm’ broad beans are now produced and processed for our Voima-Papu brand. This plant is once again the new superfood for the whole of Finland.
The Klinckowström family motto has always been ‘Good food’.
This quote from ‘Almanach perpetuel des Gourmands’ aka ‘The Perpetual Almanac of Gastronomy’ from 1831, dedicated to our ancestor (Senator) Otto Klinckowström:
“Vaut mieux etre ici bas Gastronome qu’ astronome.”
“Better to be down here a Gastronome than an astronomer.”
Karviainen Farm
Martin and Emilia Klinckowström bought Karviainen Farm in 1914 and moved to Angelniemi with their sons Arthur and Olof. Angelniemi was selected as the new home since Emilia’s family lived near, and the growing conditions of the fields in the Salo area were good. Karviainen farm is an old “rälssi” farm, which were tax-deducted farms given to noble people, and the farm was sometimes also referred to as an estate by local people. After Martin and Emilia, the farm was developed and grown by Olof and Kaija Klinckowström, and then Hans and Raija Klinckowström. Nowadays, the farm is owned by Martin and Katriina Klinckowström; the fourth generation to run Karviainen Farm – and the fifth generation is already growing!
The aim of each generation has been to improve cultivation or develop the farm in the spirit of the time.
At Karviainen Farm, a diverse range livestock was kept by Martin and Emilia, ranging from cows to chickens.
Dairy production was a passion of the farmer’s wife when Olof and Kaija owned the Karviainen farm. The cow pictured here, named Omega, was one of the first cows in Finland to officially produce over 100,000 litres of milk.
A sow pig farm and pumpkin production was started when Hans and Raija owned the Karviainen Farm. Pumpkin was, and is still, a quite rarely produced plant. The pumpkins from Karviainen farm were processed at Saarioinen factory, and available all over Finland.
Neighbours visiting their summer cottage in 2016, came to the end of our field, notice broad beans growing and said "Wow, you have a superfood growing here in Angelniemi". This made Katriina's thoughts rush; wondering if this plant would diversify the farm's production even more. This was the starting point for a visit to a local bakery, and through that, broad beans were grown in Salo before Christmas 2016. Initially selling directly to consumers showed there was potential demand for our products from retailers. So, we had to think about our own brand and logo for the product, this is where both Voima-Papu and Karviainen Farm were born.
When Katriina baked a "date cake", at Christmas 2016-2017, she noticed by chance that baking with broad bean flour can reduce your sugar / fat from the recipe. She was really excited by her discovery!
In 2017, we immediately began marketing to retailers with three products (ground beans, flour and whole beans). With her head working like a small computer engineer, Katriina began burst with ideas of what else could be done with broad beans. In the summer of 2017, a roasted and lightly salted whole bean snack became available. This is how the Voima-Papu product family grew.
2017 was pretty hard for the Voima-Papu brand creation, then came Christmastime, when a lot of delicacies, made with chocolate, are enjoyed. And so, the hostess of the farm again wondered "how can we make healthier chocolate treats for children?". Then one night, came the idea to coat the roasted broad beans with white chocolate for her guests. This idea was well received by the smaller ones in the family, but was it a good idea for a new product?
However, the positive comments from the guests, were left to simmer in Katriina’s mind until she decided to call some chocolate companies. Katriina’s call was received positively at Kultasuklaa Oy and the ideation started immediately on the phone. And so the first test batches arrived at Karviainen Farm during Christmas 2017. The Klinckowström kids were delighted – so much chocolate!
So 2018 started with three more Voima-Papu products, the family had really started to grow. New taste experiences came in the summer of 2018, when ready-to-use, ground, roasted beans were produced at the request of our customers. Of course, after being used by the hostess , it was easy to make the product for consumers. On the gooseberry farm, all products are based on Katriina’s personal use.
2019 started at a rapid pace, we started converting an old blast furnace, stone pigsty (Sikala) into a bean packing place (Papula). Raija, Martin's mother said “now the SIKALA is now PAPULA!” This also made the Papu farm shop more widely available than during the previous Christmas. 2019 was a difficult year of growth, as we got Papula renovated and operational.
The year 2020 started on a positive note, Voima-Papu Breakfast Cereal, was selected into the central range of K-Citymarkets around Finland, along with our other broad bean products. Our goal for 2020 was to conquer the whole of Finland and invest in solar power!
However, in March 2020, due to COVID, things slowed down as they did around the world. Fortunately we had our online store ready and, at this moment, it came into play. It now supplies Voima-Papu products all over Finland.
We saw light at the end of the tunnel, when we learned that our roasted ground broad beans recipe was selected in the Äiti Patuka Finnish recipe competition, which brought good credit to our hard work. Also, our dream of Finnish solar panels will come true.
Scan magazines wrote a small article about us (in English), you can read it here: https://scanmagazine.co.uk/karviaisten-tila/
Youtube: Voima-Papu härkäpavut pellolta pussiin - YouTube
Isännän potku Angelniemeltä Amazoniin – vientihanke yhdisti kolme seudun yritystä | SSS.fi
Sanna Mansikkamäki neuvoo, miten teet keittiössä ilmastotekoja (iltalehti.fi)