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Brown-Forman and Altia extend partnership by 10 years

US firm Brown-Forman has extended its partnership with Nordic drinks group Altia for the production of Finlandia Vodka until 2035.

Brown-Forman’s Finlandia Vodka is made in Finland by Altia

The partnership began in 2000 when Finnish state-owned producer Altia sold a 45% stake in Finlandia Vodka to Brown-Forman, marking the firm’s entry into the category. Two years later Brown-Forman acquired an additional 35% stake in Finlandia. In 2004, Brown-Forman acquired the remaining 20% stake in Finlandia, taking full ownership of the brand.

The deal saw Altia continue production of Finlandia for Brown-Forman until 2025.

Hannu Tuominen, senior vice president, Altia Industrial, said: “By leveraging each other’s competencies and experience, we can continuously improve our supply chain processes and excel in the service, quality and efficiency targets set together. We also want to ensure the most sustainable service available, aiming at carbon-neutral production by 2025.”

The extended agreement covers the production of grain spirit for Finlandia at Altia’s Koskenkorva distillery and the production, packaging and logistics of Finlandia’s products at Altia’s Rajamäki plant. Both sites are located in Finland.

Alex Alvarez, senior vice president, chief production and sustainability officer, Brown-Forman, said: “We are very satisfied with Altia as our close partner and producer of Finlandia Vodka. With sustainability growing in importance it is crucial to have a partner with a strong emphasis on environmental issues.

“Altia is a forerunner in sustainability and its distillery producing grain spirit for Finlandia Vodka is based entirely on circular economy, with a 99.9% waste recycling rate and its own bio-power plant. This is truly unique even globally.”

Koskenkorva Vodka owner Altia also distributes Brown-Forman’s products in the Nordics. This year, Finlandia celebrates its 50th anniversary.

According to our latest Brand Champions report, Finlandia witnessed a 3.4% sales decline to 2.9 million nine-litre cases in 2019.

Brown-Forman also acquired Maximus Vodka from Altia in 2011, however the brand is not listed on the US firm’s website.

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