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Innokem Helps Its Customers Shine

16.5.2025

Innokem serves companies from various professional fields, as well as individual consumers, in matters related to cleanliness, surface coating, and hygiene. The company’s goal is that in the future part of its revenue will come from outside Finland.

Innokem Oy is currently celebrating its 10th anniversary, although the company’s roots go back to the 1980s. At that time, Innokem’s founder, Juha Karppanen, was selling and promoting the British car care product line Glym all over Finland. Ten years ago, Karppanen decided to create his own brand of car care products — Innokem.

– At first, it offered a variety of car shampoos and waxes. After a few years, the product range was expanded to include products for the hotel and restaurant sector, as well as for property maintenance and industry, says Innokem’s CEO Ari Kuikka.

Karppanen sold Innokem about four years ago. At that time, the company’s strategy and values were also refined. The cornerstone became Finnish identity, which in the mouths of Innokem employees naturally turned into Savonian identity.

However, Kuikka believes that in Kuopio, you can’t get by simply serving one another, but money needs to flow in from elsewhere.  This creates jobs and shared prosperity for the region. Innokem’s aim, therefore, is for part of its revenue to come from outside Finland in the future.

Comprehensive cleaning solutions

Innokem’s core expertise lies in the development, production, and sales of various responsibly produced chemical cleaning and coating agents, as well as hygiene-related products. In addition to simply “selling containers,” the company also offers its customers comprehensive solutions, namely cleaning tools, supplies, machines, and equipment.

– We also offer our clients other services that facilitate their operations, such as measurement-related services. For example, our sales representatives periodically check the detergent concentration in our customers’ dishwashing machines. When it comes to detergents, both consumption and environmental impact are optimal when concentrations remain within the correct range, says Kuikka.

Kuikka points out that surface coating is an effective way to improve ecological sustainability. Then you do not need such strong detergents to clean the surface. The benefits of coating are not limited to vehicles alone. With Innokem products, the concrete walls of underpasses, for example, can be coated in such a way that graffiti can later be removed with a high-pressure cleaner without strong solvents. Bathroom surfaces can also be treated, making them significantly easier to clean.

Renewal is important

In recent years, Innokem has made reforms to its operations on several fronts with a view to growth and internationalisation: processes, practices and branding have all been significantly refined. However, there is still plenty of work to be done in the domestic market, which Kuikka believes will yield the quickest results.

– Our intention is to double Innokem’s turnover, now four million, over the next three years, Kuikka states.

He believes that, for a company to succeed, it must have a strong team and seamless cooperation. There must also be a clear goal to strive for, as well as the conditions necessary for success. This requires hard work and, at times, difficult decisions.

– We need to be alert and able to renew our activities regardless of the world situation. I’m proud that Innokem has successfully navigated the challenges caused by COVID and the war in Ukraine, Kuikka concludes.

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Innokem Oy’s production facilities are located in Kuopio, but product development takes place in Tuusula Nevertheless, Innokem conducts a great deal of testing related to product development with its customers in Northern Savonia. The company has also worked with Savonia University of Applied Sciences: as part of a student project, a group of German and Dutch students developed an internationalisation strategy for the company.

– It is important that businesses and educational institutions commit to each other. Through cooperation, students can gain the sense that there are diverse and exciting companies here, and that one can find employment here, says Innokem’s CEO Ari Kuikka.

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Text by Minna Akiola
Images: Innokem