A sensational café
Fazer Café at Kluuvikatu has been renovated. Changes were made in the concept and interior of both the café and the delicatessen. The name will also change. From now on, the café is called the Karl Fazer Café in honour of its founder. In line with the founder’s vision, the Karl Fazer Café will provide its customers with taste sensations and moments of pleasure during each visit.
The café and restaurant sector is an important part of Fazer Amica’s business. The company operates cafés and restaurants in department stores, as well as restaurants in congress and cultural centres. “The annual turnover is approximately 110 million euros, and we aim to grow in this sector in all our countries of operation,” says Ms. Teija Andersen, Managing Director of Fazer Amica.
The “jewel in the crown” of the café and restaurant sector is the café at Kluuvikatu in Helsinki, the beginning of the entire Fazer Group on 17 September 1891.
“Ever since then, the café has been an inseparable part of cultural life in Helsinki”, Andersen says. “Visiting Fazer was the trendy thing to do right from the beginning, and the establishment soon became the most popular café in town.”
New products and classics
Karl Fazer Café still operates at the same address, and continues to be the favourite meeting place of people in Helsinki. In just over one hundred years, the town has changed quite a lot, and so has the café. But the café’s unique milieu and atmosphere are still there.
Over the decades, the café has been renovated in line with the trends of the times and its customers' changing expectations. This has also served as the basis for developing the Karl Fazer Café concept. The visual appearance of the café and delicatessen has been reformed and the product assortment has been developed — with much care and thought, respecting the original spirit of the place. The familiar traditional products are complemented by new delicacies, without forgetting the Karl Fazer specialities that are only available here.
We know that Karl Fazer always did his utmost in order to fulfil and even surpass his customers’ expectations. “Naturally, that is also our goal,” says Teija Andersen. “Hand-made products are our ace in the hole in modern times. Most products are made here in our own kitchen — as has always been the case. Our core competence includes bread, confectionery and chocolate products, and we have invested lots of time in developing them in co-operation with Cloetta Fazer and Fazer Bakeries.”
Address for gourmets
For dinner guests, the café has a new ”Food and Wine” buffet where the chefs prepare dishes according to the customer's preferences. In the morning, the customer can enjoy a delicious breakfast, in the daytime there's soup with fresh bread baked in-house, and five o'clock tea will be introduced as an afternoon temptation. And the customer can finish the day with small open sandwiches and a glass of wine.
The café has self-service. “There is always a customer service person in attendance, serving, helping and guiding customers together with the rest of the staff,” Teija Andersen says.
The product assortment of the delicatessen is primarily based on fresh-baked bread, cakes and pastries made on the premises, and on Fazer’s chocolate, hand-made confectionery and sweets that melt in your mouth.
At the back of the shop, there is a demonstration desk where gorgeous confectionery products are being made at all times. “Chocolate School” events and demonstrations are also organised at the desk.
Interior and packages reformed respecting tradition
The aim of renovating the interior is to let the customer see all that Karl Fazer Café has to offer the moment they walk through the door. We want the customers to step into the Dome Hall or sit down at the new café tables at the back of the shop. The delicatessen with its showcases has also been brought closer to the customer entering the premises. Lighting is now softer for added comfort. Large illuminated pictures of products hang on the walls.
Packages have also undergone a total transformation. Now they glow in dark lilac and gold. “Mrs. Karl Fazer, Berta, was particularly strict about style. We wanted to foster her heritage when reforming the packages.”
Teija Andersen is proud of the history and reform of the cáfe. “We wanted to respect the founder’s vision and provide our customers with taste sensations and moments of pleasure during each visit,” she says.
Additional information:
Fazer Amica, Managing Director Teija Andersen, tel. +358 20 729 6200
Fazer Amica Finland, Deputy Managing Director Maritta Iso-Aho,
tel. +358 40 544 2123
Karl Fazer Café, Manager, tel. +358 20 729 6125
Fazer Group
Fazer Group originates from a family business founded in 1891. Today the Group offers meals, bakery products and confectionery and operates in a total of nine countries. Its operations are based on passion for customer, quality excellence and team spirit. The Group operates in three divisions, which are all committed to offering taste sensations: Fazer Amica, Fazer Bakeries and Candyking. Fazer Amica is a leading contract catering company in the Nordic and the Baltic countries, offering customers delicious food and tailor-made service solutions. The company operates in the Nordic countries, Estonia, Latvia and Russia. Fazer Bakeries offers fresh and tasty bakery products and operates in Finland, Sweden, Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Candyking is a pioneer and a market leader in the pick & mix confectionery business in the Nordic countries, the United Kingdom and the Baltic states. Fazer’s most important associated company is Cloetta Fazer AB, which is the leading confectionery company in the Nordic countries. Fazer Group‘s turnover for 2005 was 986 million euros. The Group employs ca. 15 000 people.
