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Five from Finland

Springtime ideas

Bid farewell to winter with some refreshing ideas this springtime.

Julia Helminen

The warmer weather means it’s time to officially bid farewell to winter and find refreshing ways to greet the change of season.

Spring is upon us with gradually rising temperatures and longer and brighter days. There are many ways to welcome the much-anticipated change of season and the new beginnings it typically brings. Below are five of them.

Nordic design is known for its classy simplicity and high quality, something that is in abundance at Finnish Design Shop.

Finnish Design Shop

Spring is just right for giving your home a new look and a fresh start. Founded in 2004, this world’s largest online shop specialised in Nordic design can provide you a lot of ideas on how to enhance the beauty and function of your home with a Nordic twist.

The shop picks the best lifestyle design products from both iconic and less-known brands and spreads them across the globe to over 180 countries. For inspiration, have a gander at Design Stories, Finnish Design Shop’s own online magazine.

“Nordic values, like equality and closeness to nature, resonate everywhere,” said CEO Teemu Kiiski. “The Nordic nations are famously some of the happiest in the world, so our mission is to share pieces of this happiness.”

Zadaa enables people to conveniently sell and buy good-quality pre-loved clothing.

Zadaa/Facebook

Spring is the perfect time to prioritise and declutter wardrobes. But what next? Throwing away unwanted clothing is far from ideal, as it has serious repercussions for the environment. Make room for Zadaa.

Since 2015, this marketplace app has been helping people to buy and sell quality second-hand clothes by connecting people of similar build and style. On a mission to change the way people consume clothes, Zadaa has already attracted eco-conscious fashion lovers from over 300 European cities.

“Zadaa is a mobile application that helps people to sell and buy well-fitting, pre-loved clothing,” summed up co-founder and CEO Iiro Kormi. “We wanted to create a service that makes recycling clothing so easy that even we would do it more actively.”

Weeding, chopping and landscaping is much easier with Fiskars’s wide selection of garden tools.

Fiskars

Gardening is the ultimate symbol of spring, and having proper garden tools at hand makes all the difference. Fiskars, one of Finland’s most iconic and respected brands with origins going back to 1649, provides global consumers functional and timeless tools for nearly any task around the house or garden.

Designed with a distinctive Nordic touch and manufactured with sustainable and long-lasting materials, Fiskars’ products have been applauded by the design industry’s top professionals. The innovative approach can also be seen in the brand’s foray into the world of fashion. In collaboration with fashion and textile designer Maria Korkeila, Fiskars launched a capsule clothing and accessory collection, targeting gardening and streetwear enthusiasts alike.

“Ever since Fiskars was founded, we have stayed true to our strong heritage and DNA while being bold and innovative,” said chief design officer Petteri Masalin. “To us, it’s always about staying curious about the world while being loyal to our roots.”

Giving primacy to great taste and sustainability, Oddlygood’s plant-based products are meant to boost the wellbeing of both people and the planet.

Oddlygood

A change of season is the perfect time to rethink old eating habits and start making the right choices. Oddlygood, a growing family of plant-based dairy alternatives, is not solely targeted at vegans, vegetarians and flexitarians, but at everyone who’d like to make their diets more balanced and try new exciting flavours.

Consumers in Finland and a handful of other markets have been enthusiastically trying Oddlygood’s plant-based alternatives, including oat drinks, cheese, yogurts, desserts and products used in cooking and baking. Last year, Oddlygood Global, the company behind the brand and a spinoff from Finland’s biggest food exporter, Valio, set new records for market share in Sweden, Finland and the Baltic states, as well as launched sales in Poland.

“Interest in plant-based products is growing exponentially worldwide, which we can also see in a significant increase in our sales,” said Niko Vuorenmaa, CEO of Oddlygood Global. “However, consumers will only change their day-to-day consumption habits if they find dairy alternatives that both taste good and fit their lifestyle.”

Soil of Beauty is on a mission to enhance the beauty of its customers while also promoting environmental sustainability.

Soil of Beauty

Winter can be tough on our skin, and so, what better time than spring to pamper ourselves? With its holistic approach to beauty, this Finnish brand offers a selection of organic skin care products made using high-quality ingredients, such as plant extracts, essential oils and minerals.

Soil of Beauty’s passion for creating effective skin care solutions, combined with dedication to ethical and sustainable practices, has resonated well with both consumers and industry professionals. Made in Finland, the brand’s products were among the winners at the Beauty Shortlist Awards 2022 and Nordic Natural Beauty Awards 2021.

“I founded Soil of Beauty because I wanted to create a holistic line of products that were sustainable and environmentally responsible from the ground up,” explained eco-cosmetologist and business owner Henna Uusikallio. “I believe that beauty should be nurtured responsibly.”

By: Zhanna Koiviola
08.05.2023