Linnanmäki stops selling Ingman’s ice creams. At the same time, more than ten years of cooperation with the manufacturer of the ice cream brand will be broken.
– We have made a strong value choice that we will not continue with operators who, despite the sanctions, operate in Russia, says the CEO of the amusement park Pia Adlivanki To .
The originally Finnish Ingman brand is now owned by the British giant Unilever, which still runs its factories in Russia. The company is not subject to sanctions, but it has received a lot of international criticism for its activities.
Unilever pays taxes to Russia annually tens of millions of euros from the front. Partly with tax revenues, the Russian state finances its brutal war of aggression in Ukraine. In addition, according to Ukraine, the presence of Western companies in Russia dilutes the objectives of the sanctions imposed by the West.
For these reasons, Ukraine has added Unilever’s “war sponsors” to the blacklist.
Ingman has previously delivered all the ice cream sold there to Linnanmäki and, thanks to the partnership agreement, gained a lot of visibility in the amusement park. Now Linnanmäki has found replacements for Ingman’s products.
In the beginning season, the ice cream sold in the amusement park will be produced by Finnish companies that have no ties to Russia. Linnanmäki tries to exclude all other products linked to Russia from its selection.
Unilever did not agree to an interview with . The company only commented by email that it is sorry about the end of the cooperation with Linnanmäki.
Linnanmäki did not want to give a TV interview to about the matter, but commented on the matter over the phone.
The drastic price increase of Linnanmäki tickets has been the talk of the town in recent weeks. According to the CEO, the abandonment of products connected to Russia has not in itself affected the latest price increase, but the background is the general increase in the cost level.
However, according to Adlivankin, preferring domestic products partly increases costs, because domestic products are often more expensive.
Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency NAZK maintains a list of “international war sponsors” operating in Russia. In the video below, NAZK spokesperson Andrii Pozniak tells why the operation of Western companies in Russia is a problem.
Other amusement parks condemn but continue
In Finland’s other large amusement and theme parks, Ingman’s ice creams will continue to be tasted this summer. Särkänniemi, Powerpark, Tykkimäki, Puuhamaa, Visulahti and Moominamaailma continue their contracts with Unilever.
The representatives of the parks tell that they are aware of the problems of working with Unilever. Despite this, they are not stopping their cooperation.
The main reason, most parks say, is that there are few alternative manufacturers. Large-scale production of ice cream is concentrated in a few multinational giants that also operate in Russia.
Puuhamaa and Visulahti, as well as the water park Serena and Tropiclandia, are run by the same company: Puuharymma. It is owned by the Spanish Aspro Parks, which has a European-wide cooperation agreement with Unilever.
According to the Puuha group, the group-level agreement cannot be influenced by Finland.
Tykkimäki, which still sells Unilever’s ice creams, is owned by Kymen Seudun Osuuskauppa. It belongs to the S group, whose store freezers are full of Unilever ice creams.
In the video below, NAZK’s spokesperson tells the Ukrainian agency’s greetings to Finnish amusement parks and companies.
Unilever is not the only giant food company that still operates in Russia.
In November, published a report on how the owners of almost all of Finland’s favorite ice creams are multinational companies that continue their production in Russia.
In addition to Unilever, Nestlé also operates in this way, whose company Froneri, which owns the company, manufactures Pingviini ice creams in Finland.
Froneri, owned by Nestlé, also produces Fazer ice creams as well as its own brand ice creams for the S group, K-kaupuas and Lidl.
Linnanmäki strives to be completely Russia-free
Ingman ice cream is not the only product linked to Russia that has disappeared from Linnanmäki.
According to CEO Adlivankin, the amusement park has justified its acquisition to make sure that none of the products in its restaurant and kiosk selection have connections to Russia.
During the winter, Linnanmäki has been looking for replacements for the products of all the international food giants operating in Russia. In addition to Unilever, Nestlé, Mondelez and Mars are also on Ukraine’s blacklist.
– We are not aware of a single product that was purchased from a company that operates in Russia, Adlivankin says about Linnanmäki’s starting season selection.
However, Hartwall will continue as Linnanmäki’s main partner at least until the end of this year’s contract period. Hartwall manufactures Pepsico soft drinks in Finland, which is blacklisted in Ukraine.
Hartwall is also Moominmaailma’s partner in soft drinks.
This week, Unilever announced that it intends to separate its eight billion euro ice cream business from its other businesses into a separate company. The new arrangement will not change the company’s operations in Russia, writes the British newspaper The Guardian.
In addition to Ingman ice creams, Turku Sinappi is also a Finnish brand owned by Unilever.
Nestlé, which also owns Finnish brands, has lost customers and contracts due to the Russian war of aggression.
Immediately after the publication of ‘s report in November, VR removed Pingviini ice creams from sale in train restaurant cars and in its Tikkurila station cafe.
In the early stages of the war, Mannerheim’s children’s welfare association cut ties with its long-term partner Piltti. The well-known children’s food brand and Pingviini ice creams are owned by Nestlé, which is one of the world’s largest producers of food waste and whose factories in Russia continue to operate.
Graphics: Ilkka Kemppinen /