Kevin Mårtensson, a second-year history student at the University of Turku, participated in the Flavoria Innovation Festival 2025. Kevin worked on the Turku Market Hall fishmongers’ challenge, and he was one of the students chosen for a study trip to Japan. In this blog post, Kevin shares his experience of Flavoria Innovation Festival.

How I Learned About the Festival

I first found out about the Flavoria Innovation Festival in the newsletter of the University of Turku. The concept of the festival seemed like a fun experience and a little bit different than what I am used to. I study history in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Turku, and I have East Asian Studies as a minor subject, so the possibility to apply for a study trip to Japan immediately caught my eye.

Discovering the Company Challenge and Our Team’s Strengths

Before the festival, I was a bit worried about what kind of skills and knowledge I would need during the festival, but I was excited, nonetheless. The company challenge was given beforehand, and the common theme of the year was fish industry.

Our team’s challenge was provided by the renowned fishmongers S. Wallin and Herkkunuotta, who have their shops in the Turku Market Hall and provide fish for customers and wholesale for restaurants and other businesses in Turku and nearby areas. Also, they both have lunch bistros that provide various seafood dishes. The challenge they gave us was related to attracting more international customers to their bistros in the summertime when there are fewer Finnish customers.

Our team was a wonderful combination of people with different study backgrounds and great personalities. I discovered that my skills were very good for the challenge. I also think that we who study humanities should never doubt our skills but bravely take on new challenges and be proud of our skills and knowledge because they are greatly needed.

Support & Guidance throughout the Week

We worked with our challenges with the framework provided by the organizers of the Flavoria Innovation Festival, and we were also given a personal coach to help us stay focused on the challenges and give us some pointers on how to proceed. Our group work was very inspiring and it was great to see different and innovative ideas come from different people. Our group dynamic worked really well, and even though there were some challenges on the way, we overcame them in the spirit of mutual respect and understanding. We also received advice and feedback from experts on many occasions, and coaching on how to give a short pitch.

On the last day of the festival, we presented our final idea: an outdoor event that would bring international customers to the beautiful Finnish nature where they could enjoy seafood prepared there and have a unique experience surrounded by the calm and picturesque Finnish environment.

I had the honor of presenting our idea for the company representatives and the jury consisting of experts on different fields. I gave a five-minute-long pitch and presentation prepared by our team. We received feedback which was very direct but also constructive. I was glad that our idea into which we put a lot of effort was received positively.

Unforgettable Learning Experience and the Exciting News

All in all, the Flavoria Innovation Festival was a great chance to meet new people, work on interesting challenges and learn more about sustainable development and green transition. It was nice to work in a respectful and innovative environment. Soon after the festival I got a call telling me that I had been chosen to participate in the study trip to Japan. The great experience of Flavoria Innovation Festival and the study trip to Japan, about which I will write another text, will stay with me forever and I will also put all that I learned in good use now and in the future.

Flavoria Innovation Festival will be organized again in November 2026 as part of another projects. More information will be published on flavoria.fi later this spring.