Fiksuruoka.fi begins international expansion and opens first online store for surplus food in the Netherlands

The Fiksuruoka.fi online store for surplus food is opening its first online store outside Finland in the Netherlands. The brand name in Netherlands will be Foodello. Juhani Järvensivu, CEO of Fiksuruoka, sees the company’s entry into a new market as an interesting opportunity to learn for the entire organisation, but at the same time ambitious goals have been set.

“We have succeeded very well in fulfilling our mission, which is to reduce food waste in the Finnish market, and now is the time to go out into the world with this mission. In the near future, what is most important is to succeed well in the Netherlands and to learn how to enter new markets successfully in this business. In the coming years, we plan to target other new markets by building on these lessons,” says Järvensivu.

Fiksuruoka to offer surplus food from local producers in the Netherlands

Fiksuruoka will be the first and for the time being only online store for surplus food in the Netherlands. The country also has many food production and logistics centres, so the market seems promising in all respects. As in Finland, the Dutch online store will offer mainly local brands and products that consumers are used to. In practice, Fiksuruoka builds supplier relationships and warehousing partnerships locally, which is already well under way in the Netherlands.

“Dutch operators have already shown a lot of interest in cooperation, and we have attracted a large number of local suppliers to work with us to reduce food waste. We have our own warehouse partner in the Netherlands, and orders will be delivered to customers from there. We are also building local purchasing, marketing and customer service teams in the Netherlands, and we have already recruited several local team members in all of these functions,” Järvensivu continues.

Fiksuruoka is supporting its Dutch operations from Finland, and the development of the online store and internal analytics, for example, is being done in Finland. Regardless of the need for different names and a strong local presence in each country, Fiksuruoka’s goal is to build a single, international company that all employees feel they belong to.

According to research carried out by Fiksuruoka, the Dutch – like the Finns – are very environmentally aware and price conscious, so the online store for surplus food is expected to appeal to local consumers. In addition, with a population three times that of Finland, the Netherlands is seen as a good first international market for the company.

From operating out of a garage to an online surplus food business worth millions

Having started modestly out of a garage, Fiksuruoka has succeeded in growing its revenues significantly to 12 million euros in 2020. The company has already helped more than 300 suppliers cut food waste while saving both money for customers and the environment. In total so far, Fiksuruoka has managed to reduce food waste in Finland by more than six million kilos.

“The future looks promising at the moment. The company is experiencing rapid growth, and we are at a really interesting stage. Our key focus right now is to replicate the service and business model from Finland to a larger market,” Järvensivu says.

Proceed to the Foodello.nl online store and browse the selection

Juhani Järvensivu
CEO
juhani.jarvensivu@fiksuruoka.fi
Fiksuruoka/Foodello