In South Karelia, there is a pearl of the confectionery industry, which is known around the world.
The Saimaa phenomenon is here again. Although slightly different from the one depicted in the summer of 1981 Aki and Mika Kaurismäki in a documentary film. The Saimaa phenomenon of the 1980s was followed Juice Leskinen The concert tour of Slam, Hassisen kone and Eppu Normaal in summer Saimaa.
In 2026, pastry will be added to the Saimaa phenomenon. Pastry Saimaa is Markku Vengasahon top training program for pastry chefs in Lappeenranta, Saimaa vocational college in Sampo. It has become a phenomenon in a year.
Pastry Saimaan project manager, lecturer and pastry chef Vengasaho has developed a training with his team that is so popular that you may have to wait for a while for a training place.
Also possible in Finland
Pastry Saimaa, which recently celebrated its one-year anniversary, has high goals for the future.
– We want to be one of Europe’s most significant confectionary centers of excellence. We have full opportunities for that at this time, Vengasaho tells Iltalehte at Pastry Saimaa’s annual celebration.
Many students participated in Pastry Saimaa’s first birthday. Tommi Vilkko
And his aim is not only to be the best in Europe, but one of the best in the world.
The enlightening moment was when Emeliina Papinniemi won gold in the WorldSkills competition in 2016. Then Vengasaho and lecturer Outi Suopanki thought that everything is also possible in Finland.
– We understood then the importance of a team that includes top experts in the field. When people who are passionate about their profession get together, miracles can be achieved, Vengasaho says.
Several people work miracles with him, one of them is a product development expert and a member of the Finnish national team of chefs No King.
– Eija’s special expertise is product development in the confectionery industry and her ideas are born in the forests and trails of Luumäki. Eija is our tireless tester and product developer.
According to Vengasaho, Pastry Saimaa is Finland’s largest operator in pastry chef and pastry chef training, when the completed competence points are used as a measure. There are currently 30 pastry master and pastry apprentice students in the training.
Similar pastries were offered at the Castle’s celebrations on Independence Day. Tommi Vilkko
Students are taken care of
Pastry Saimaa’s family is often glimpsed in Vengasaho’s speech. He hopes that the students will also experience the school as a big family. Without counting working hours, Vengasaho picks up his students from the train station by car if necessary, takes care of unanswered e-mails at home in the evening and is constantly coming up with new ideas. When the graduated student is removed from the class Whatsapp group, Vengasaho feels sad.
– We always ask our students how they are and how we can help them. There must be a little heart everywhere, Vengasaho smiles.
According to him, the keys to Pastry Saimaa’s success are the staff and long-term commitment.
– We want to be the best in the world, but to achieve that we have to look far ahead. The goal is that our own students become teachers who enjoy what they do. As our network grows, a continuum is created.
Vengasaho believes that the Lappeenranta school has an atmosphere that binds both teachers and students together. The same is said by students who arrive at school at the end of their work week. On Monday, they are back at their workplaces full of energy and new ideas.
Outi Suopanki and Markku Vengasaho are happy about their successful training program. Eeva Paljakka
The students say that with the school the networks grow, as does the desire to move the industry forward.
One student states that there has never been a school like this in Finland before. Top-level trainers from around the world come to the school, so the best possible training is available. The international star trainers are specialized in chocolate, sugar shaping or ice cream, for example.
Vangasaho thanks his colleague Suobank for the good international relations.
– We are a strongly international player, for which we have to thank Out. Through his connections, we have brought many top trainers to Lappeenranta.
Common to all of South Karelia
Vengasaho and his teams hope that the people of Lappeenranta will experience the school as their own. What would be a better way to bring closer the relations between the school and the townspeople than to participate in a puck party? When SaiPa was in the hockey championship final, it was decided to hold a public event at the school.
A 20-meter-long wrapped tart was brought to the local shopping center Galleria, which two teams of confectioners decorated in a playful competition with the yellow and black colors of SaiPa.
Vengasaho praises that the students were really committed and they came from all over Finland to join the teams of the wrapped tart competition.
SaiPa themed wrap tart. Tommi Vilkko
Last fall, some of the staff and students of the training center Sampo and Pastry Saimaa were allowed to participate in a secret project. The school participated in the preparation of the catering for the President’s Independence Day reception.
According to Vengasaho, the project involved a wide range of students from different stages of their studies. The real customer of the project was revealed to the students and other residents of Sampo only in the last week of November. The product development work and the preparation of the meals were kept a secret until the very end.
Dream big
Vengasaho encourages you to dream big. He talks about a culture of doing things boldly, where you dare to try something new – you are allowed to succeed, but sometimes also to fail.
– The students are the heart of this entire project. This is not just a project, but a breeding ground for loathing. I had a dream to create a top confectionery unit in South Karelia, to give students a path that leads to their dream profession and the world.
Vengasaho hopes that every student thinks that he too has a chance to rise high.
In the end, the school’s success is visible to Finns in cafes and restaurants, which in turn raises Finnish food culture to a new level.
This picture is one of Markku Vengasaho’s dreams come true. Confectioners in Saimaa’s coastal waters, wearing tall chef’s hats, reaching for heights. Eeva Paljakka
The Pastry Saimaa project is financed by the European Regional Development Fund (EAKR) and the South Karelia Association. The goal was to create an internationally recognized center of excellence in the confectionery industry.