Happy Apple Juice

Happy Apples and Vegetables by Tero Palmroth

Fully Natural - Fully Transparent

✅ Single-variety ✅ No pesticides ✅ Freshly pressed

At the Hakonen orchard in Karjalohja, each apple variety is picked when the apples are ripe and suitable for juicing. The apples are picked one variety at a time, and the juices are not mixed. No water or additives have been added to the juices, and approximately 2.5 kilograms of completely pure, fresh-picked first-class apples have been used to make one bottle of apple juice.

The juice is available in 1.2-liter food-grade plastic bottles designed by Harri Koskinen, which can be reused, for instance, for freezing apples and berries.

The Happy Apple label is designed by professor Erik Bruun, one of Finland's most renowned and respected graphic designers. The apples are farmed and juiced by Tero Palmroth.

No pesticides. No government subsidies. Our core values are honesty, transparency and respect for the environment. Our mission is to set an example on how to produce local food the right way. It is also important to us that everyone involved is getting decent pay for a job well done.

Hakonen Farm's 2025 Season

The apple harvest in 2025 was modest. When farming in harmony with nature, this is something that inevitably happens in certain years.

The juice is available in limited quantities through selected retailers. See this list to find your nearest retailer.

Farm Shop

Fresh produce from Hakonen Farm is available at our own Farm Shop during the summer season.

Check our social media for updates on daily products. We offer freshly harvested vegetables straight from the field, sometimes available within just a few hours. Happy Apple @ Facebook.

Address & Opening hours

The shop is located at Hakosenkuja 1, 09120 Karjalohja.

For opening hours and the latest updates, please check our Facebook page: Facebook page

Fresh produce changes almost daily.

Farm Shop offers various produce including vegetables, jams, and juices.

You can also spot the Farm Shop at local events in the area. In the picture, the shop manager Max is at the 'Maan Maut' event in Fiskars 3.9.2023.

Product packaging is being renewed

1.2-liter food-grade plastic bottle, K-Supermarket Vattuniemi, Helsinki.

Happy Apple juice is available in two packages starting from 2024.

Packages are designed for reuse at home. Designed by Harri Koskinen, the 1.2-liter food-grade plastic bottle is also freezer-safe and, thanks to its large opening, can be used for storing berries, applesauce, and similar items.

All parts of the packaging can be recycled.

Tastings

Happy Apple Juice Tasting in K-Supermarket Hanko 24.8.2024

We're sampling the juice in selected stores. You can taste the new harvest from September to the end of October. Welcome to enjoy some juice and have a chat at our table.

Harri Palmroth and Tero Palmroth at the Happy Apple Juice Tasting Table in Tampere Hämeenkatu K-Supermarket.

Irja Taipale at Juice tasting in Tampere Stockmann

Annukka Salonen at Juice tasting in Heinolan Heilas

The broader the smile, the better the food safety matters are. During an inspection, the food safety inspector from Lohja Environmental Health Services has awarded the juice from Onnelliset Omenat (Happy Apple) / Hakonen Farm the widest smile on the scale, meaning an 'Excellent' level. The collaboration between local authorities and farmers is a guarantee of first-class quality. It ensures consumers receive accurate product information, high-level hygiene, and a safe product.

Oiva is a public information system for food safety inspection reports, coordinated by the Finnish Food Authority. You can find Oiva reports on the oivahymy.fi service.

Apple field at the Hakonen orchad.

The almos plum-like deep red colour of the lobo variety apples is the result of the cold autumn nights and daily sunshine. Through its natural wax coating, the apple traps moisture inside and protects itself from freezing. The lobo crop is harvested last, in late Sebtember. The result is exceptionally sweet juice.

A patch of first-class Lobo-apples ready to ship to Sammatti juicing plant. Happy Apple juice is genuine local product – it is grown and manufactured within just 100 kilometres from Helsinki.

Naturally Grown Goodness

At Hakonen Farm our commitment to natural farming runs deep. Every apple and vegetable we grow is nurtured with care on clean, chemical-free fields.

We believe in full transparency. That’s why we openly share our seasonal farming practices on our website and social media. From planting to harvest, you’ll always know what goes into your food.

Our apple orchards and “Onnellinen” vegetables thrive without poisons and synthetic pesticides. In 2025, we used an environmentally friendly urea fertilizer to prevent apple tree canker.

When it comes to pest control, we choose nature over chemicals. With help from Viljelijän Berner, we’ve adopted biological solutions like Turex. It is a natural bacterial preparation that targets caterpillars safely and effectively.

Try Hakonen Farm products and taste the difference that natural farming makes.

The producer of Happy Apple juice is fully committed to the mission of reducing plastic waste, as outlined by the United Nations and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation New Plastics Economy Global Commitment. The packaging, manufactured by the Finnish company Plastex, is 100% recyclable and designed to withstand reuse at home.

Ready-made product. Happy Apple juice – made without pesticides and without government subsidies.

THE APPLE FARMER’S BOTTLED HAPPINESS

Tero Palmroth was the first Scandinavian to ever participate in the legendary Indianapolis 500 Race. By way of love, coincidences, and bison, he ended up an apple farmer and juice maker.

Entrepreneur Tero Palmroth thought that raising bison was a good idea, as he wanted to bring some life back to his wife’s family farm in the late 1990s. Farming apples proved to be a much better idea.

‘This is a fantastic climate for apples. The herd of bison was sold and apple trees were planted on the south-facing slopes of the Hakonen farm in Karjalohja. Today, there are 2,600 trees and the crop is made into juice from “happy apples” (Onnellisten omenoiden mehu)’, Tero Palmroth says, clearly very pleased.

In the beginning, the crop was even turned into apple brandy. The authentic Calvados casks were imported from Normandy and the drink was very tasty, but the intricacies of Finnish alcohol legislation made the operation difficult.

Now the apples are used to make cultivar-specific apple juices. The crop is harvested by hand, each variety individually at exactly the right time. The apples are transferred immediately to a dim and cool space, washed, and transported to the juicing station in Sammatti. At the station, the apples are freshly squeezed and packaged into Finnish plastic bottles designed by Harri Koskinen and decorated with labels designed by professor Erik Bruun.

‘The apples are not left sitting in storage, and they are squeezed one cultivar at a time. Much like fine wine, people value top quality juice that has been produced without making any compromises’, Palmroth says.

The taste of apple juices varies by both cultivar and vintage, much like that of wine.

‘My personal favourite is the White Transparent juice for breakfast, but juice pressed from the Samo cultivar goes well with food and it is also served at dinner in the Savoy restaurant. Juices from the Jaspi or Raike cultivars, on the other hand, are better suited for dessert because they have honey and vanilla aromas’, Tero Palmroth says.

This year’s crop is going to be relatively good, even though the apple season is a few weeks late.

‘It’s all up to Mother Nature and the Lord. This is not a big business. This has more to do with idealism and faith in the countryside, as well as the production of pure, local food. It is rewarding on its own to be part of something like this.’

Translated article from Viini-magazine.

Varieties

Look at the stamp

Every package has a stamp which shows the apple variety the juice is extracted from.

Pirja

Sweet, caramel-like. Ripens early in august.

Valkea Kuulas

Fresh-tasting, acidic. Colour green, gets lighter when ripe.

Samo

Medium sweet, acidic, calm. Ground color yellow, part of the surface is covered with reddish brown color.

Jaspi

Sweet, "honey-like". Bright red color.

Raike

Taste is initially sour, but gets sweeter as they ripen. Has a "vanilla" taste. Quite reddish color.

Lobo

Sweet, medium acidic, safe. Dark red.

Complete History of the Juice

Visual designer professor Erik Bruun, apple farmer Tero Palmroth and package designer Harri Koskinen at Heinolan Heila. 2016.

Seedlings were grown in Ahvenanmaa (Åland) in 1999.

Planted on fields of Hakonen farm in Karjalohja in 2001. Trees grow in a south facing slope of about 2 hectares. There are six verieties; pirja, valkea kuulas, samo, jaspi, raike and lobo, a total of 2600 trees.

The trees are in rows 1.30 meters apart. Every row has a cover fabric that prevents weeds and makes the roots warmer in springtime.

On top of the cover fabric is a irrigation system that delivers water to the trees for 45 minutes every evening. The water comes from a natural spring pool that is located just next to the farm.

In springtime the irrigation system also delivers natural “vitamins” and nutrients to the trees.

Every April the trees are trimmed. In July there is another trimming, so that the fruits will get more sunlight.

The harvesting of the crop begins in July-August, and goes on with one variety at the time.

The best apples are delivered every day to the juicing plant in Sammatti, eight kilometers from the farm. In Sammatti the apples are juiced and pasteurized with traditional methods and 50 years old equipment. Unopened juice is good for 14 months in room temperature, and it keeps 2 weeks in fridge after opening. The juice is bottled in 1.2-liter bottles. The bottles can be recycled or reused. They are great for example for freezing berries.

No water, or any type of additive is added to the juice. Approximately 2.5 kilograms of apples picked from the trees is used for each bottle of apple juice.

People behind Happy Apple juice agree with the values of Ellen McArthur Foundation and UN Enviroments New Plastics Economy Global Commitment. To reduce plastic waste Happy Apple juice is packed in 100% recyclable package. The bottle is designed to be durable enough to be reused at home.

We wish you a pleasant and healthy times with our juice.

Tero Palmroth

Limited 1000 litres (3000 bottles) brew of Happy apple-beer was made in 2022.

Tasting at Sibelius monument. 2018.

Tasting at Järvenpää Citymarket. 2018.

Tasting at Stockmann herkku Tapiola. 2018.

Nexgeneration tasting with Alessia, K-Market Kauklahti, 2018

Hakonen Farm Happy Vegetables

Without chemicals. Without subsidies. Moving towards the future, market-driven and healthy.

Hakonen Farm's harvest.

We've expanded from happy apples to happy vegetables. Grown without chemicals, everything hand-planted and hand-harvested. We've planted summer onions, potatoes (3 different varieties - Marabel, Belana, and Ranomi), summer squash (Diamant variety), and rhubarb.

Vegetables available: