Helsinki · Finland
Paulig
Paulig roasts in Helsinki, Uusimaa.
Since 1876 · Gustav Wilhelm Paulig
Overview
Paulig was founded on 25 September 1876 in Helsinki by Lübeck-born trader Gustav Wilhelm Paulig, who imported colonial goods (coffee, spices, salt, sugar, oils) and shifted 303,000 kilos of green coffee in his first year — about seven percent of Finland's total imports. In 1904 the firm opened the first industrial coffee roastery in the Nordic countries, in Helsinki's Katajanokka district, and remains 100% Paulig-family-owned today across multiple generations.
Known for
- First industrial coffee roastery in the Nordics (1904)
- Juhla Mokka and Presidentti — Finland's defining coffee blends since 1929
- Paula Girl mascot in Sääksmäki national costume — one of Finland's first brand icons
- Bertha Paulig — one of Finland's first female corporate leaders
- Date-stamped coffee packaging — a 1931 European first
Why it matters
The defining coffee company of Finland — the country with the world's highest per-capita coffee consumption — and a heritage Nordic food group whose Juhla Mokka and Presidentti blends still anchor Finnish coffee culture nearly a century after launch.
Production
- roaster machine
- Modern automated roastery in Vuosaari (opened 2009; replaces 1968 Vuosaari plant inaugurated by President Urho Kekkonen)
- roastery location
- Vuosaari, Helsinki (plus roasteries in Tver, Russia and Saue, Estonia)
Recognitions
- First industrial coffee roastery in the Nordic countries (1904)
- Paulig Coffee Institute (founded 1980)
- Pioneer Member SCA (formerly SCAE)