<\/a><\/p>\n

Many people in the U.S. can say one word of Finnish without knowing it. They can say sauna<\/em>. Some of them \u2013 I believe \u2013 even have some kind of an image what sauna is.<\/p>\n

Some few have experienced it.
\nSauna is an old Finnish word, and it is ancient old tradition in Finland. The word refers to the old way of bathing in this cold country, and it refers to the bathing house \u2013 a steam room that is heated up of with a special kind of stove, kiuas.
\nAges ago saunas were considered sacred places in Finland. Women gave birth to their children in saunas \u2013 as they were not only sacred but also clean and warm places even in the midst of cold winter. There are many superstitions and old rituals related to bathing in sauna.
\nStill today, saunas are so important to Finns that nearly every apartment building in the country includes a common sauna for its habitants. In addition to that, quite many people have a tiny sauna in their apartment.
\nHouses are sure to have a sauna room \u2013 it would be considered odd if a new house built in Finland did not include a sauna.
\nIn the cities, saunas have electric heating systems but in the countryside and in the leasure homes along the country\u2019s 200,000 lakes, they are still heated up with logs burning in traditional stoves.
\nFor decades, there has been two big sauna equipment producers and stove makers in Finland. These companies are called Harvia and Narvi.
\nTheir owners were, and still are, among the richest people in Finland.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo: Harvia sauna<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, December 3rd, the main headline in all the news sites of the U.S. was the mass shooting that happened in San Bernandino, California.
\nThe most read story of the site of the main daily newspaper of Finland, Helsingin Sanomat, was about saunas. It was a column of the paper\u2019s correspondent in Britain who wrote about her friend who wanted to have a Finnish sauna in her in her backyard in London.
\n\u201cOrdering a sauna from Finland was not possible \u2013 why don\u2019t Finns want to make money?\u201d This was the headline of her story (roughly translated).
\nThe text itself told that a Finnish-British family who tried to buy a Finnish sauna from Finland to London didn\u2019t even receive an answer to their requests for offers from the Finnish sauna and stove makers.
\nInstead, a German sauna maker \u2013 with no roots in Finnish sauna tradition \u2013 answered immediately and finally built the family a Finnish style sauna with an electric heater.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Finnish readers were very upset about the story. Not only did it tell that foreigners were selling our tradition but it also told that Finns cannot make money abroad \u2013 even in the case when it should be really simple. The country\u2019s economic situation is very worrying. Unemployment is in rise. Trade is slowing down.
\nAnd Finns let Germans sell the products that should be our national pride!
\nI wasn\u2019t surprised to read this sauna story.
\nIn Los Angeles, I met a Finnish film maker who told me what happened when he wanted to build a sauna to his backyard in Hollywood. He is a wanna-be carpenter and did all the wood work himself. He had his sauna in a garden shed, and finally only the heating system was missing. He wanted to buy a Finnish stove. He couln\u2019t get one.
\nHe bought a Swedish electric stove.
\nWhat a shame.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So what are the Finnish sauna makers doing? I decided to find out.
\nMoney, is the first answer.
\nThe sauna company Harvia\u2019s profit margin has been between 20 to 25 percent every year since 2010. The company started in year 1950 as a small local stove maker and grew until the first years of new millennium.
\nThe owners \u2013 a family with name Harvia \u2013 then reported that is was the as big as it can get in Finland. The family sold the company to an international investment company, and the company started to grow again.
\nIts\u2019 net revenue was \u20ac40 million in 2010, and \u20ac44 million in 2014.<\/p>\n

Narvi, the other main sauna brand, is not doing that well. It is a company with good financial standing\u00a0and high gearing ratio \u2013 but for how long?
\nLast year its net revenue was \u20ac6,7 million. The net revenue reduced from the previous year 18 percent. At the same time Narvi made a loss of \u20ac282,000, and in 2013 the loss was even bigger: \u20ac1,9 million.
\nIn its\u2019 website, Narvi boasts about being \u201ccurrently the only large producer of sauna heaters in the market, whose entire product range is designed and manufactured exclusively in Finland\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Keeping the production exclusively in Finland is obviously not that good idea.
\nHarvia, the profit-making sauna maker, has opened factories in China, Russia and Estonia. They have a sales office in Hong Kong.
\nThe CEO of Harvia told a reporter of Helsingin Sanomat this year, that Asians do not yet ask for a Finnish sauna built in their homes. But Harvia is doing business with hotels. If a hotel wants to have five stars, it needs to have a sauna.<\/p>\n

Harvia may have a good reason to ignore one or two Finnish expats wanting to buy a Finnish sauna. Harvia is busy in Asia.
\nBut the sauna maker Narvi, who wants to keep its production in Finland\u2026 What on earth keeps it from selling its’ products abroad?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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