Raijanholvi

The Company

Restaurateur Raija Laaksonen bought an old bank in 2015. The bank, located in Parkano, was renovated into a café-restaurant while respecting its historical character. The bank vault was decorated with a banking theme, and the stone wall was illuminated for tourists to see. Raijanholvi offers high-quality food and café products in a cozy bank environment in the center of Parkano, next to the park. It also serves as a venue for meetings, recreation, training, and celebrations. At Raijanholvi, you can also purchase souvenirs made in Finland, including local items that utilize the Lauhanvuori-Hämeenkangas Geopark brand.

The products

Raija wanted to create a delicious product suitable for a hiking snack, one that would last and stay well in a backpack even on a long day’s journey. The dough and filling of the Jättikaalitasku (giant cabbage pocket) use grains, milk, eggs, and vegetables produced in the Geopark area. It is seasoned with home-grown oregano and lovage, as well as local honey. The snack can be enjoyed cold or warmed over a campfire. If desired, it can be halved, and especially on a hike, the cabbage pocket can be conveniently slipped into an eco-friendly paper pocket, with no utensils needed.

Geo Bear’s Forest Energy Treat

In spring, spruce tips are gathered from the trees in the yard and used to enhance various dishes. They are turned into spruce tip syrup to complement ice cream and cakes and pickled for later use.The syrup-making process leaves behind a pulp after straining—spruce tip mash—that had previously gone unused. Inspired by a sudden need for energy during a hike at Alkkianvuori, the idea emerged to create a healthy, locally sourced snack that would fuel hiking adventures and make use of this nutritious by-product.The forest energy treat includes locally grown oat flakes, spruce tip mash, homemade spruce tip syrup, local honey, seeds, and cranberries.Approximately one quarter of Finland’s forests are dominated by spruce. Spruce thrives in fresh, nutrient-rich coniferous forests. Thanks to the uplands of the Suomenselkä region, the climate in the Lauhanvuori – Hämeenkangas Geopark area is also more humid, which suits spruce well. Due to the relatively gentle impact of the Ice Age, the soil layers in the Geopark area are in places quite thick, and the region has a high proportion of wetlands. Cranberries grow in wet, sphagnum moss-covered bogs, and they are abundant throughout the Geopark area.

Thin crispbread with wild herbs

The goal was to create a product that stores well at room temperature—something easy to take on a hike, bring as a gift, or even pack for international travel.The idea was inspired by dried meadowsweet gifted by a friend and handpicked, dried spruce tips. The fresh, tangy flavor of spruce tips pair beautifully with the refined vanilla-like taste of meadowsweet. The crispbread is made using locally sourced rye and oat flour, with a touch of local honey to soften the herbal flavors, along with a bit of canola oil and salt. The result is a thin, herb-infused crispbread, topped with a wild herb spread.Spruce tips are rich in vitamins C, K1, and A—making them a true vitamin bomb. Meadowsweet is also known for its health benefits; it contains bioactive compounds such as salicylates and flavonoids.The geological features of the Lauhanvuori – Hämeenkangas Geopark area—such as its acidic, nutrient-poor granite bedrock ground into fine moraine by glaciers—provide ideal conditions for growing rye. The slow-releasing nutrients in the fine-grained soil give rye its strong, full flavor. The region’s mineral-rich soils are also well-suited for oats, which are grown most extensively in the Geopark counties and southwestern Finland. The local climate, made more humid by the uplands of Suomenselkä, is particularly favorable for both rye and the moisture-loving oat.