Flavoria Innovation Festival 2025: developing solutions to fish industry challenges
The Flavoria Innovation Festival, organized by the University of Turku, the WiseFood – Resource-Wise Food Chains project, and the Fish Quality and Marketing Development Program, brought students together to tackle real business challenges from November 10–14, 2025.
The five-day Flavoria Innovation Festival event and study module gathered over 30 students from the University of Turku, Åbo Akademi University, Turku and Seinäjoki Universities of Applied Sciences, and Turku Vocational Institute. The event was held for the fourth consecutive year.
Throughout the week, multidisciplinary student teams worked on challenges provided by five different companies, all related to the fish industry. Students had the opportunity to develop their ideation, teamwork, and presentation skills while receiving guidance from company representatives and expert mentors. The week culminated in a closing event on Friday, where the teams presented their solutions to the companies.
– It’s great that domestic fish industry companies were eager to participate and offer challenges for students to solve. The industry needs innovations and fresh perspectives, which the students truly delivered, says Katriina Partanen, Executive Director of Pro Kala ry, which coordinates the Fish Quality and Marketing Development Program.
Getting to know the fish industry through seminars, workshops, and real business challenges
Before the innovation week, students had the chance to dive deeper into the fish industry at the Catch the Future seminar and the From Sea to Table fish demo day, where professional chefs introduced underutilized Finnish fish species and their handling, followed by preparing delicious fish dishes.
During the innovation week, students worked in multidisciplinary teams to tackle challenges from Kalaneuvos, Kalavapriikki, Hätälä, Järki Särki, and the fish shops S. Wallin and Herkkunuotta in Turku Market Hall. The themes ranged from product development to marketing and exports, with many challenges emphasizing the perspective of young consumers.
– Flavoria Innovation Festival was an amazing experience, and I learned a lot about the fish industry. It was great to work in a multidisciplinary team where everyone brought their own expertise and viewpoints. We managed to combine our strengths and bring out the best in each other, which is reflected in the solution we created, says Jesse Torni, a student at the Turku School of Economics, whose team developed fish snack products for Generation Z for Hätälä Oy.
At the end of the week, students presented their solution ideas to the companies, which included innovative fish products and flavor profiles, marketing concepts, export strategies, and experience-based concepts.
Hätälä’s student team and their solution (Jesse Torni, Marlena Postma, Sheheryar Fareed Wahidi ja Ishimwe Beni Dandy) was chosen as the winner of the week.
S. Wallin’s & Herkkunuotta’s student team presenting their solution to the jury. Kevin Mårtensson in the front.
The popular event returns in 2026
As in last year, participants were offered a unique opportunity to apply for a study trip to Japan, organized and funded by the City of Turku, the University of Turku, and the Sasakawa Foundation. Two students were selected based on active participation, a motivation letter, and teamwork skills.
The concept and study module, refined over four years, received positive feedback from both students and companies.
– The event was inspiring and well-organized. The students did an excellent job and presented interesting solutions. The collaboration was rewarding, and the results showed that a lot of effort had been put in. The week’s structure had many strengths, especially Wednesday’s session where interim feedback could be given, says Ari Hietanen, Product Development and Quality Manager at Kalavapriikki.
Flavoria Innovation Festival will be held again in autumn 2026, welcoming students from various educational institutions.
Flavoria Innovation Festival 2025 was organized as part of the EU co-funded WiseFood – Resource-Wise Food Chains project and the Fish Quality and Marketing Development Program. The week was carried out in collaboration with the City of Turku, Turku Vocational Institute, and Boost ry, with a wide network of experts and mentors from academia and industry.
