History

The roots of Arnolds lie deep in California’s sandy beaches of the 1980s. The relaxed life style of the Pacific Ocean came to Finland through Switzerland, where the founders of Arnolds met as students in the hotel and restaurant business.

In the summer of 1991, the two globetrotters met on the cliffs of Kaivopuisto in a broiling hot Helsinki. They decided to import the all-year round summer to Finland. The business development began with the name. Härmän jätkät didn’t work on an international level so the name became Oy Hermen Ab (Hermen Ltd) because that was easier to pronounce.

The premiere opening of Arnolds was prepared in Rotterdam, where Hermen bought the rights to the brand name Arnolds Donuts and its products from Unilever Finland Oy Paasivaara. Shortly after the deal Oy Hermen Ab opened its first Arnolds Donuts Coffee Shop in the Hansa Shopping Center in Turku in October 1991.

With the help of international expertise, the company simultaneously began to develop a franchise. The first franchise owner opened an Arnolds in the shopping mall Zeppelin in Kempele already in 1992.

Despite the weak economic growth of the 1990s, Arnolds expanded from city to city. During the second half of the decade the operation had reached such proportions that Arnolds founded the wholesale trader Arnolds Tukku in 1997. The wholesaler imports and produces raw materials that fit the Arnolds concept. Simultaneously the company began a renewal of the company image that was finished in 2001. In the renewal process the company changed its name to Arnolds Bakery & Coffee Shop.

The world has changed since that first day’s sales profit of 30 marks. Today, Arnolds has over thirty coffee shops around Finland. The growth of the company continues.