The Finnish government decided last spring to raise the VAT on sweets from 14 percent to 25.5 percent.
Recently, several cocoa plantations have produced poor harvests, partly because of old cocoa trees. Several crops have also been lost and the price of cocoa has skyrocketed and risen rapidly in a short time.
One of the reasons for the rising prices is that demand is higher than supply.
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Finland wants to raise the candy tax
In Finland, it has been decided to raise the value added tax on chocolate and sweets from the current 14 percent to 25.5 percent. A decision as Fazer’s CEO Christoph Vitzthum saws.
– It is a pure Fazer tax, he has said Hufvudstadsbladet.
Fazer had plans to expand and build a brand new chocolate factory in Lahti, Finland. But now the project may never be finished.
– If the calculations show that the factory does not pay for itself, then we have to think about putting the project on hold. But first we will sleep a few nights on the matter, this was not a scenario we had on the table, said Christoph Vitzthum in an interview with Hufvudstadsbladet this spring.
If the tax is implemented, it may happen that the Finnish candy manufacturer Fazer will be allowed to build a new chocolate factory in Sweden instead, which Swedish Radio reported on.
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Fazer can build a chocolate factory in Sweden
News24 have talked to Josephine Mickwitz, communications manager Fazer group that a possible Fazer factory could be built in Sweden.
– Fazer has previously communicated that we plan to invest in a new, modern chocolate factory. For various reasons, including the great uncertainty in the market and volatile cocoa prices as well as the planned Finnish VAT increase on confectionery, we have postponed the decision itself and are evaluating a very wide range of different alternative solutions, she says.
It is therefore not entirely clear that any factory will be built in Sweden. But Fazer is currently looking at a number of different solutions and it seems that a Swedish chocolate factory is not completely out of the question.
– We are keen to do as thorough a job as possible. It takes the necessary time and we will tell you more when the investment decision has been made, says Joséphine Mickwitz to Nyheter24.
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