Lapland’s wild foods need better marketing, expert says

Lapland’s local food culture depends on better promotion of its wild ingredients, including berries that visitors may not know how to pick, according to a food tourism expert quoted by Yle.

Growing tourism is bringing new restaurants and international flavours to the region. Menus range from pizza to A5-grade wagyu beef, while local ingredients such as reindeer and berries are combined with flavours from elsewhere.

Gordon Yam, head chef at Rovaniemi restaurant Roavvi, says he adds Asian ingredients such as ponzu sauce and light soy sauce to local produce. Yam moved to Rovaniemi from Helsinki’s Grön restaurant, which has been awarded two Michelin stars. Roavvi serves wagyu imported from Japan as well as reindeer dishes, including reindeer schnitzel.

Laura Leppälä, coordinator of the Taste Traveller’s Lapland project, says responsibility for preserving the region’s food culture rests with local businesses. She says the health of the natural environment is essential because food and nature are closely connected in Lapland.

Leppälä says local ingredients need stronger branding and storytelling. Visitors may not realise that Lapland’s berries grow wild, and may therefore be reluctant to pay the asking price. Restaurants have also failed to show how much work can go into picking cranberries, she says.

Lapland has an unusually wide range of high-quality wild foods on restaurant menus, Leppälä says. She would like visitors to learn more about the region’s natural features, including its air, which she describes as having been found in studies to be among the world’s cleanest.

Producers face challenges from changing weather and rising costs, but growing tourism also creates opportunities. Some reindeer producers sell everything they produce, Leppälä says. She adds that more work is needed to develop food processing and direct sales, so that more of what is produced in Lapland is also consumed there.

The Taste Traveller’s Lapland project aims to strengthen the region as a food tourism destination by supporting local ingredients and food experiences. Its pilot areas are Levi, Ylläs and Rovaniemi. The project is co-funded by the European Union and carried out by Lapland University of Applied Sciences.