The Thai businessman suspected in the human trafficking investigation in the natural berry industry has been recruiting Thai pickers for the big berry companies Polarica and Kiantama for years. The Regional Administration Office has found several deficiencies in Kiantama’s operations related to the conditions of the pickers.
Finland Kiantama Oy, one of the largest natural berry companies, has been the subject of repeated inspections by the labor protection authority in recent years in connection with the conditions of Thai berry pickers, according to the inspection reports of the regional administrative agency (avi).
According to the information obtained by the Occupational Safety and Health Authority during its inspections, some of Kiantama’s Thai pickers were, for example, not aware of all the costs charged to the pickers when they came to Finland, and some of the pickers were informed of a higher purchase price of berries in Thailand than it actually was in Finland. Some of the collectors were afraid that they would end up on the “black list” and without the money they had already earned if they sold the berries to other companies.
In its comments to the regional administrative agency, Kiantama denies these claims made in the inspection reports.
Berry picking industry According to HS’s information, a Thai entrepreneur suspected of aggravated human trafficking in a human trafficking investigation has been recruiting berry pickers for two of Finland’s largest berry companies, Polarica and Kiantama, for several years.
Yle also reported in its story on Monday that the same coordinator has recruited Thai pickers for both Polarica and Kiantama. CEO of Kiantama Vernu Vasunta confirmed To Yle that they used the same coordinator as Polarica, but otherwise did not comment on the matter.
Helsingin Sanomat reported two weeks ago that the human trafficking investigation connected to the Finnish wild berry industry has expanded with new suspicions of gross human trafficking.
According to the police, the focus of the preliminary investigation is currently two berry companies operating in Finland and a Thai company that recruits berry pickers in Finland. The police have not confirmed the names of the berry companies, but previously it has been reported in the media that one of the companies is Northern Finland’s Polarica marjahankinta oy.
The police have not commented to HS which other company’s operations the criminal suspicions concern.
Switch to a Thai company raises the question of whether one of the companies is Kiantama.
Neither its CEO nor the chairman of the board have responded to Helsingin Sanomat’s numerous calls and requests for comment. Kiantama’s CEO, Vasunta, has sent a short reply to HS by e-mail, in which the company neither denies nor confirms whether the company is suspected of crimes.
“As CEO of Kiantama Oy, I have been interviewed by the police in an investigation related to pickers. On my own behalf, I can say that in all our activities we have followed Finnish legislation and the official instructions regarding the berry picking industry. We will not comment further on the unfinished investigation at this stage,” says Vasunta in an email.
After the comment in question, Vasunta no longer answered the detailed questions sent by HS.
On December 16, Vasunta had told STT “that he was not aware that Kiantama was suspected of a crime”.
HS made a round of calls to several Finnish natural berry operators. They denied being related to the police’s criminal suspicions in the human trafficking investigation.
Regional state Administrative Agency during the years 2021 and 2022, has made eight inspection visits by the occupational health and safety authorities targeting Kiantama and the conditions of the pickers who collect berries there. Inspections have been carried out at collectors’ bases in different parts of Finland.
Based on Avi’s inspection reports, the police were involved in four of the situations, an official of the Immigration Office and an employee of the crime victim emergency department were also involved in two.
In July–October 2022, six inspections were carried out at five different bases. The inspections revealed several deficiencies in Kiantama’s operations related to the pickers’ conditions.
For example, the inspection carried out in September of this year revealed that the company had not trained the pickers in all respects as required by law. In the orientation, the pickers were not instructed about the advisory and legal protection bodies in Finland. There were also deficiencies in the official information visible to the collectors, such as an incorrect phone number.
In the written orientation material given to the collectors, it was also instructed that the pickers should have their own tools and equipment for the collection. The inspector stated that the operator must provide the collector with collection tools and equipment.
Several deficiencies related to the conditions of the pickers were found, for example, during an inspection of the pickers’ base in October 2022.
According to the information received by Avi’s inspector, pickers were prohibited from selling berries anywhere other than Kiantama. Based on the information obtained during the inspection, the pickers would have been told at the orientation meeting in Thailand that they can sell the berries to whoever they want, but this would be prohibited in Finland. The pickers had the idea that if they sell berries elsewhere, they will be “blacklisted” and won’t get the money they’ve already earned or won’t be able to collect berries the following year.
According to Kiantama’s answer, the pickers would have been told clearly that they can sell the berries to whomever they want, and all the pickers would also have received their money.
The inspection report also stated that the collectors had been trained, but some of the collectors had been told about the Finnish authorities in a negative way. According to the inspector’s opinion, this weakened the pickers’ perception of their own rights in Finland.
Based on the inspector’s observations, some of the gatherers had also not been told where to find berries in the first place. On some days, the gatherers had to drive long distances to look for berry places themselves.
During the inspection visit in October 2022, the inspector also found that not all collectors knew all the costs they would be charged when they came to Finland. For some of the pickers, the expenses charged for accommodation, food and rental car had only been cleared in full after the first deduction of expenses.
Based on the inspection, some of the collectors would also have been told that the purchase price for the berries in the country of origin was higher than what it had actually been in Finland.
According to Kiantama’s answer, the pickers in Thailand should have been presented with the daily expenses and the price range of the purchase price of the berries in the orientation material.
“No one can accurately say the purchase price of the berry in advance, because the exact amount of the harvest or the market situation is not known until the harvest season begins,” Kiantama commented to the inspector.
Kiantaman the inspection report from September 2022 regarding the second base of the collectors states that, according to their understanding, the collectors were not allowed to change accommodation and food supply. Based on the information obtained by the inspector, at least some pickers would also have signed an agreement in Thailand that prohibited the sale of berries to anyone other than Kiantama.
According to Kiantama, there was no mention of limiting the right to sell in the Thai agreement, but the pickers would have been told that they can sell the berries to whoever they want.
Kiantama was given operational instructions to fix the issues found by Avi’s inspectors.
On a general level, the avi could make a preliminary investigation report to the police about the deficiencies he finds. However, Avista will not comment to HS whether avi has reported the deficiencies in question to the police.
Customer information according to Kiantama oy’s turnover in 2022 was 17 million euros, increasing by 20.3 percent. The business profit was 195,000 euros.
On Kiantama’s website, the company is described as a family business operating in Kainuu, which was founded in 1973.
Helsingin sanomat newspaper told in July 2020that Kiantama was, for example, bringing four hundred pickers to Finland from Thailand for about two months in 2020.
In May 2022, Kiantama’s CEO Vasunta said in Yle’s story that he expects a thousand pickers in the fall of that year.
Previously it has been reported that the former CEO of Polarica is suspected of aggravated human trafficking in the preliminary investigation Jukka Kristoa and a Thai entrepreneur who recruited Thai pickers as seasonal workers for the company. Polarica informed about the criminal suspicion against Kristo already in October in its own press release.
The head of the investigation of the case from the Central Criminal Police told HS in December that at the time there were “fifty” persons suspected of gross human trafficking in the case.
According to the head of the investigation, all the suspects have denied the suspicion of a crime. Polarica and its management have also dismissed suspicions of illegal activity in their press release.
The Central Criminal Police and the investigation by the border guard is about the fact that at least dozens of Thai berry pickers who worked in Finland are suspected of being victims of human trafficking in the years 2020–2022.
According to the head of the investigation, the number of Thai pickers who have fallen victim to suspected human trafficking is “considerably large”.
According to the police’s suspicions, human trafficking would have taken place, among other things, by mistaking, extorting, and forcing Thai berry pickers into forced labor.
In addition to this, according to the police, berry pickers have, among other things, been housed in poor conditions.
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