A culinary insider‘s tip but relatively unknown to the general public, the jam is typically sold as a gourmet gift and a seasonal product. Compared with Eastern European rose products, the composition and taste profile of Finnish Plant‘s jam is unique – there is no direct competition.

The product is well suited for export as it has a shelf life of 11 months and is well suited for transport without a cold chain. The product is already exported to several countries, such as France, Germany and Italy. Finnish Plant has its own recipe for prosperity in the future: to gain a strong foothold in Finland and invest in export.

The company is self-sufficient in terms of the main raw material, ad quality assurance and production are taken care of in house. Currently, there are 20 km of roses in cultivation across an area of 6 hectares. The company‘s own freeze drying equipment allows the flowers to be dried fresh, straight from the field. This guarantees a unique quality as the petals do not have time to oxidise (turn brown) before the freeze drying process. The result of the process is freeze dried Rose Petals for restaurants and the chocolate market, as well as rose water, which is a real health bomb!

Finnish Plant FP Kotaja Oy is a family company that makes handmade organic rose products in the unique conditions of Northern Europe. The company‘s own rose variety, Rosa Rugosa (variation Kotaja) has been specially bred for the Finnish environment for growth, where the world’s cleanest air and water, the light, and cool growing conditions produce a balanced taste experience. As a result of 15 years of development work, they have created an edible rose which is perfectly balanced for the handling and preparation of food products. In its taste, you can detect the lingering midnight sun, characterised by a sophisticated bitterness which is lacking in southern varieties.

Finnish Plant’s main product is the Rose Petal Confiture which is made in their own production kitchen. “This jam is a classic.”

Tuuli and Matti run Matti’s family farm in Vampula, Western Finland, where the family have been farming since Matti’s grandfather built a house near the river in 1917. For generations wheat, barley and peas were grown in the fields, but Tuuli (Finnish for wind) has brought new ideas to the business.

Matti, dreamed of a career as a professional musician as a young man, and developed the Finnish Percussion (FP) conga drums that found fame in the 1980s. Unfortunately, his global percussion conquest failed with the collapse of the dollar but his passion to create something unique was left to simmer.

When Matti met Tuuli, he found a partner who shared his passion for roses. They married in 1994 and the couple soon hit upon the idea of growing roses professionally. The letters FP now stood for Finnish Plant instead of Finnish Percussion.

Initially, the goal was to make rose oil but Tuuli’s creativity in the kitchen and Matti’s passion for all things new led to the creation of a test batch of rose petal jam. However, the road to a finished commercial product was a long one. After several years of breeding roses and product testing, they were finally ready to start professional rose growing in 2012.

For years, the Kotajas have been breeding the Arctic Rosa Rugosa Hybrid variety to better suit local growing conditions and taste requirements. The result, the Rosa Kotaja variety, will completely replace the Rosa Rugosa Hybrid variety in the future.

In breeding, it is important to utilise Nordic growth conditions and take environmental values into account. Irrigation water from the home river, 24-hour summer sunlight and organic farming have all contributed to the basis for a healthy and tasty rose product.