Some things tend to get pushed aside by circumstances. That doesn’t mean they’re forgotten—well, sometimes it does, but not this time.
Personal Chemistry is a series where we get to know the company’s people through their hobbies. The idea is simple: I put on cycling shorts, gym pants, ice-fishing overalls—or this time, hiking boots—and join the starch person’s without any preconceived ideas. At the end, the interviewee gets to challenge the next one.
Vesa challenged Kalle Kainu already back in 2023. While exploring Kalle’s passion for forestry, we also check on the seedlings that were planted to compensate for the Bridge magazine’s 2023 carbon footprint. Two flies in one soup—or however the saying goes.
A Renaissance Man
Kalle Kainu is a true Renaissance man* — he is the CEO of Finnamyl, Chemigate’s potato starch–producing subsidiary. His background covers both sales and production, and he holds a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering and Management. He is an excellent team leader, empathetic, and usually a calm intellectual who enjoys Waltari.
But Kalle can also get angry—I know this, because I’ve once been on the receiving end of that anger. From experience I can say that it’s difficult to argue with someone smarter than you, especially when you know you’re wrong.
Before I began asking about his interest in forestry, I already suspected that mere fireplace comfort built by own logs wasn’t the whole story.
*A person skilled and successful in many areas.
Journey to Kulamaa
We meet in Rauma and head toward nearby Kulamaa. On the way, a brush saw and other gear are loaded into the trunk. According to Kalle, his interest in the forest began during his youth in the Scouts—but was that really the whole truth?
Kalle speaks warmly of his mother’s family estate and its history. Perhaps the roots of his interest go even further back. Either way, it all led to him buying those lands and forests from his mother.
I ask if ownership itself is important to him. Kalle pauses for a moment, as he often does. The greatest advantage of owning your own forest is decision-making power: “I can decide for myself how much to leave in a natural state and how much to use as commercial forest.”
Forestry is not only good exercise, but also a way to save and invest money. Forest investment has flourished again as wood prices have risen, and the more you do yourself, the better the return. Moreover, forest income and even generational transfers are reasonably tax-advantageous.
For Kalle, it’s essential that part of the forest is left untouched to safeguard biodiversity. As I suspected—Kalle doesn’t do anything without first examining its true nature.
Company Talk and Drones
Since we’re both company men, the conversation shifts to forest fertilization. This has been discussed a lot internally. “If we’re talking about value forest, fertilization at the right growth stage is definitely worthwhile.”
We also briefly consider the potential of new technologies such as drones.
The Volvo glides along a nearly overgrown forest road like a boat through reeds. Sensors and automation beep constantly, but the Volvo is more tractor than car, and we make it to the end without trouble.
Seedling Rescue Operation
Moments later, the brush saw roars to life. We’re in an area where, in 2023, seedlings were planted to offset the Bridge’s carbon footprint. The task is to clear away grass and stunted birches and alders so that the spruce seedlings can get more space.
Clearing is hard work—the smartwatch often reports that the day’s exercise goal has been exceeded fourfold. Slowly, the under-one-meter seedlings begin to emerge from the grass. Some have already been eaten by deer and roe, but from the 1,800 seedlings planted across the hectare, there’s enough for everyone.
Benefits at Work
I ask Kalle whether this hobby is useful in his work. “Of course,” he laughs.
In his previous life, when Kalle sold our products to forestry companies, it was valuable to understand the economic principles of the industry’s most important raw material. Nowadays, when he works more with farmers, the hobby helps him better understand the challenges of primary production.
Nature’s Peace and the Next Challenge
We take a look at the part of the forest left in its natural state. It’s wild, impenetrable, and a little intimidating. Yet it seems that this is exactly the place that suits Finnamyl’s man of the forest.
We fall silent for a moment. Then Kalle grins: “Doesn’t Tomi in Lapua do some triathlon?”
Oh no! Isn’t this series ever going to end?
