Fazer F8: Helsinki´s number one location

Helsinki / FI. (fg) Fazer´s unique F8 restaurant complex will soon be completed. The restaurant complex, which opened in downtown Helsinki in the Stockmann department store in the spring 2009, will be expanded in August 2010 when Fazer opens four totally new restaurants in the premises. Once it is finished, F8 will simultaneously offer taste sensations to as many as 850 customers.

F8 is a complex of restaurants, cafes, bars and pleasures for the senses in the city´s number one location. It offers something unique for everyone, including daily meals and gourmet events from early morning until late at night during Stockmann´s opening hours. The new F8 restaurants to be opened in August have been designed to complement the offering, especially during the afternoon, early evening and weekends. With the new restaurants, full service restaurants will once again be part of Stockmann´s offering, following a short break. They will also be more sumptuous than before, Fazer said in a press release.

• F8 Easy is the largest of the restaurants to open in August. In keeping with its name, it offers a relaxed and high quality oasis of good food that is targeted at busy business diners, afternoon or early evening diners, the whole family or small groups. The menu is «easy» and filled with stylishly prepared favourites.
• F8 Fine is a Scandinavian-style restaurant with a fine dining spirit. It is perfect for business meetings during the early evening or evening as well as more intimate evening gatherings.
• F8 Velvet introduces a comfortable cafe with a small town atmosphere in the heart of the capital. F8 Velvet serves small and homely snacks, both sweet and savoury, as well as tempting Fazer ice cream portions in the spirit of the Karl Fazer Cafe.
• F8 Bar is a genuine bar that is only found in the department store – suitable especially for men.

«When it is finished, F8 will be an unequalled restaurant complex – even internationally – and the flagship of Fazer´s cafes and restaurants. We will now also introduce elements for evening dining into the complex. We want to provide our customers with the best moments in the day in a hospitable environment», says Päivi Harmaakorpi, the director responsible for Fazer Restaurants´ business operations.

Fazer´s restaurant complex features ideas from around the world. F8 restaurants´ rich atmosphere is both modern and Scandinavian. Special care has been taken to provide a pleasant and comfortable experience for customers of all ages. The restaurant complex has floor space of 2’300 square metres and a total of nearly 850 places for customers in its various restaurants. F8 restaurants´ interior decoration was designed by Gullsten-Inkinen Design+Architecture.

Fazer and Stockmann have been cooperating closely for over 20 years. Fazer has restaurant and cafe operations in Stockmann department stores in Finland and abroad. The newest project is the champagne bar and cafe that will be opened in the department store in St. Petersburg in November.

The F8 restaurant complex is being developed by Fazer Restaurants, a unit of the Fazer Food Services business. Fazer Food Services is the leading catering service company in the Nordic and Baltic countries, providing good food and customer-specific service solutions. Fazer Food Services manages staff and student restaurants, the restaurants of activity centres and congresses and the cafeterias and restaurants of many public buildings. The sphere of operations also includes catering services in hospitals and sheltered accommodation, banquet services and restaurant services at major events. In Finland, Fazer Food Services has nearly 800 restaurants and employs 4’000 people. The company´s turnover in 2009 stood at 291 million EUR.

The origins of Fazer Group lie in a family company founded in 1891 when Karl Fazer opened his first confectionary in Helsinki. Today, the Fazer Group provides catering services, bakery products and confectioneries. The Group has operations in eight different countries. Its operations are based on a passion for the customer, quality excellence and team spirit. The Group consists of two business areas – Fazer Food Services and Fazer Bakeries + Confectionery – that offer sensations of taste within their fields. Fazer Group´s turnover in 2009 was approximately 1,4 billion EUR. In 2009, the Group had almost 17’000 employees.

Fazer Food Services is the leading catering service company in the Nordic and Baltic countries, providing good food and customer-specific service solutions. Fazer Food Services has almost 1’400 restaurants in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Russia.

Fazer Bakeries + Confectionery

Fazer Bakeries is Finland´s leading bakery company and one of the leading companies in the Baltic region and Russia. Bread and pastries are manufactured in Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as well as in Russia, where Fazer operates under the name Hlebny Dom. In the confectionery division, Fazer is Finland´s leading company and a strong player in the Baltic Sea area. Confectionery factories are located in Finland: Vantaa (chocolates), Lappeenranta (sweets) and Karkkila (chewing gum).