Premia expands dairy product range in Estonia

Food Union Group company Premia, the oldest and largest Estonian ice cream producer that marks its 65th anniversary this year, is venturing into the dairy market by launching curd snacks under its Väike Tom brand, so far known for its ice cream portfolio. This is one among many Food Union Group’s strategic steps to enter Estonian dairy market. The new curd snacks contain no preservatives, artificial colorants, vegetable fats or palm oil, and come packaged in environment-friendly packaging made by 50% of certified bio-based material.

“Little Tom’s (English for Väike Tom) thirst for adventure and cheerfulness characterise the essence of the curd snacks, which is why this blond boy, who has been entertaining, for more than 20 years now, children and adults who love ice cream, is now spearheading a completely new product category. The result is exactly what we wanted: a popular curd snack made from natural components, with a minimum number of ingredients and a pleasant, delicate texture,” Premia CEO Aivar Aus said about the new snacks.

The cocoa-glazed Väike Tom curd snacks are available in four different flavors: curd snack with ice cream flavour, curd snack with banana flavour, vanilla curd snack with chocolate chips, and chocolate curd snack with chocolate chips. Premia uses natural flavours and additives to achieve a special taste, for instance, genuine banana additive and chocolate chips. The curd snacks are coated with cocoa glaze made of ingredients commonly used in home cooking, such as cocoa, butter and sugar.

The snacks’ packaging is made of an ISCC-certified material that is 50% bio-based. Since the packaging material is by 50% made of a renewable natural resource – waste from the wood processing industry, it is a more sustainable alternative to conventional packaging.

“This is one among many Food Union Group’s strategic steps to capitalize on Estonian dairy market. In Estonia, as in Latvia, the culture of consuming high-quality and fresh dairy products is widespread, and curd snacks are not new as a category. We are already leading the curd snack category with Kārums produce, while our Väike Tom products come in as a unique combination of clean recipes, excellent taste combinations and sustainable packaging in this saturated product category. We will not stop with it, soon we plan to delight Estonian consumers with other delicious and healthy dairy products,” Normunds Stanevics, Food Union Group CEO comments, about plans for expansion in the dairy market.

The new Väike Tom curd snacks are sold at COOP, Selver, Rimi, Maxima and Prisma stores across Estonia.