Vapo’s new name is Neova

According to Vapo’s CEO Vesa Tempakka, Vapo has been a good customer brand but, over the years, its profile has become strongly associated with the energy business and the production of energy peat in particular. Vapo sold its energy company Nevel at the start of the year, which made it a topical issue to change the name of the parent company and the Group to better correspond to the Group’s business. “We are no longer the energy company we were just three years ago. We are now something completely different and new. We are primarily an international actor in horticulture industry and producer of activated carbon used in purification industry,” Tempakka says. 

According to Tempakka, the idea behind the new name – Neova – is to communicate the rapid structural change that the company has undergone over the past three years. “We have transformed ourselves from an energy company into an international operator whose primary businesses include horticulture products that support greenhouse farming and gardening, the production of activated carbon for purposes such as air and water purification as well as renewable forms of energy. With this in mind, we have selected ‘Creating Green Growth’ as Neova Group’s Purpose Statement. This does not refer only to the gardening business – it also includes the purification of air and water as well as promoting the circular economy. Even in our fuel business, the main focus is now on renewable fuels. Sustainability is a key element of our business strategy in everything we do, Tempakka explains. 

Neova Group’s turnover forecast for this year is approximately EUR 470 million, with the Grow&Care division representing nearly two-thirds of the total. Kekkilä-BVB, which operates under the Grow&Care division, is Europe’s leading and most versatile growing media operator in the professional grower, landscaping and consumer segments. Kekkilä-BVB specialises in the development, production and marketing of high-quality growing media, mulches and fertilisers for landscapers, professional growers, distributors and home gardeners. Kekkilä-BVB operates in more than 10 countries and exports products to more than 100 countries. G&C Materials, which is also part of the Grow&Care division, supplies animal bedding to cattle and horse farms, pig houses and poultry producers. The change in Vapo Oy’s name will not have any effect on the Grow&Care division’s and Kekkilä-BVB’s brands. 

Neova Group’s Fuels business, which markets solid fuels, will continue to operate under the Vapo brand. According to Tempakka, Vapo is a decades-old brand and many customers buy both wood fuels and energy peat from the company. With this in mind, it is appropriate to continue using the brand that customers, wood suppliers and fuel business subcontractors are familiar with. Energy peat is estimated to account for just over 15 per cent of Neova Group’s turnover this year. The sales of wood fuels are expected to exceed the sales of energy peat for the first time in the company’s modern history. 

The Group has invested heavily in research and product development over the past few years. Neova Group’s first activated carbon production facility is in the production testing phase in Ilomantsi, North Karelia. The aim is to start full commercial production by the summer. Activated carbon will be marketed in the international markets under the Novactor brand. 

The change of the parent company’s name has no effect on the Group structure. 

Lint to image bank: https://mediabank.vapogroup.com/l/D-RNrknLjdz-

For further information, please contact:

• Vesa Tempakka, CEO, Vapo Oy, tel. +358 400 726 727
• Ahti Martikainen, Director, Communications and Public Affairs, Vapo Oy, tel. +358 40 680 4723
• Jarmo Santala, Chief Financial Officer, Vapo Oy, tel. +358 40 801 9191