(Savonlinna) She has a ‘taste of security with a hint of freedom’: When Finland announced its NATO candidacy on Sunday, the owner of a small brewery in the east of the country decided to celebrate with a beer for the occasion.
Posted at 3:35 p.m.
Petteri Vänttinen, a brewer based in Savonlinna not far from the Russian border, went to bed that night still wondering if his beer was a good idea.
But the next day, as Parliament debated membership, ‘NATO beer’ went viral on social media, and he is now struggling to keep up with demand.
“It just exploded. I had calls from all over the world, the United States, Japan, Germany, too many to remember,” the 42-year-old Finn told AFP, whose phone continues to ring without hiatus for four days.
The label – in a blue similar to the NATO logo – represents a knight struck with the coat of arms of the Atlantic alliance.
Its name – “NATO”, as in French – is also a play on words in Finnish, because completed with the word Olutta (“beer”), it means: “I am going to have a beer”.
It has a “taste of security, with a touch of freedom”, assures Mr. Vänttinen.
Only 50 kilometers from the border with Russia, the surroundings of Savonlinna have always been a place of confrontation with the powerful Russian neighbor, including during the Second World War.
During the AFP visit, a steady stream of customers flocked to the small brewery on Thursday, located in a red brick building built in 1909, when Finland was still part of the Russian Empire.
“We are here to buy the famous NATO beer. We wanted to see what it tastes like,” chorus Susanna Häkkinen, 24, and Emilia Mykkälä, 28.
With his eight employees at Olaf Brewing, Petteri struggles to keep up with demand, and the beer is sold out as soon as it rolls off the conveyor belt.
“Normally we sell a hundred cans of beer a day. There we are at more than 2000, ”he explains.
“We are a small brewery, we do our best, but we can’t keep up, it’s too much”.