The story of Fazer began 131 years ago, when the company’s founder, confectioner Karl Fazer opened his first café in Helsinki, Finland. Today, Fazer is an international Food Experience Company — a billion-dollar business with thousands of employees. Fazer’s business is still strongly rooted in its heritage, where traditional craftsmanship and modern technologies go hand in hand. The combination of artisanal confectioner skills and a fearlessly forward-looking appetite is embodied in Master Confectioner Eero Paulamäki, representing the Nordic and Baltic countries in the final of the World Chocolate Masters competition in October 2022 in Paris.
Karl Fazer studied pastry chef skills in Berlin, Paris, and Saint Petersburg, becoming a pioneer of the Finnish confectionery industry with a witty combination of confectioner skills and business-sense. Today, Fazer focuses on the bakery and confectionery businesses and on the growing category of plant-based products. The business success of Fazer, which nowadays operates in the Nordics, Baltics, and beyond with exports to some 40 different countries, is still built on Karl Fazer’s heritage, vision and fearless creativity, which throughout the years has been turned into tasty products, beloved brands and exciting innovations.
Fazer optimizes the use of resources through circularity
The world is changing. The climate crisis is reshaping the food system and consumers increasingly demand companies to manifest responsibility across the board and to take action to become more sustainable in their operations. Fazer believes that foodtech innovations are key to making food more nutritious and sustainable.
Nordic oats have an unparalleled reputation internationally and it is known to be pure and of very high quality. Fazer is a leading manufacturer of oat products in the Nordics.
“We have invested heavily in sustainable food solutions, developing plant-based products, and pioneering various solutions based on Nordic oats. For example, our xylitol factory is the first production facility in the world to produce xylitol from oat hulls, a side stream of Fazer’s own oat mill”, says James Dedman, Vice President at Fazer Foodtech, a business unit that supports innovation across Fazer.
World Chocolate Masters takes an important stand
Eero Paulamäki’s theme ‘#Renewable Tomorrow’ is an active form of the World Chocolate Masters’ competition’s main theme “#Tomorrow”, given to all competitors.
“I firmly believe that everyday actions – for example, choosing renewable forms of energy – are key to ensuring that our children also have a chance for a better tomorrow. The theme can be seen in my #RenewableTomorrow work, in the way that I use oat side streams such as oat xylitol and oat protein as raw materials”, says Eero Paulamäki, Master Confectioner of the Fazer Café Kluuvikatu 3 in Helsinki, Finland.
Every other year, World Chocolate Masters competition brings together the world’s best pastry and chocolate professionals for a three-day individual competition. Competitors are selected through regional qualifiers, and this year, 18 top talents share their vision of what chocolate will taste, look, and feel like tomorrow.
According to the jury Eero Paulamäki’s qualifying competition performance showed heart, courage and extreme chocolate processing skills. He created one delicious chocolate creation after another under the watchful eye of the judges and managed to amaze everyone. Paulamäki’s design was not only fantastical and wonderful, but it also carried an important message: innovation and creativity provide us the solutions for the future of food.
The World Chocolate Masters is the only competition in the world solely dedicated to the creative talent of professionals with chocolate.
World Chocolate Masters 2022
World Chocolate Masters is the world’s leading chocolate industry competition. Of the 20 regional selection rounds organised around the world, 18 finalists were selected to face off in in Paris on 29–31 October 2022. In the competition, the finalists will be judged in their technical chocolate handling skills, creativity, and their ability to mix and match current trends with traditional craftsmanship. The theme of the competition is Tomorrow, and the finalist with the most points will gain the title of World Chocolate Master.
The World Chocolate Masters competition was first organised in 2005, and this year the competition will be organised for the eighth time. Fazer’s Master Confectioner Eero Paulamäki will represent all of the Nordic and Baltic countries in the competition, and he is the first ever Finnish finalist in the competition’s history.
