Meet Lapinlahti people: Petteri Prioteasa

The idyllic, late 19th century Venetsia building on the Lapinlahti shore has been in multiple kinds of use throughout its history: for example as a laundry, a bakery, apartments, a gallery space, and a museum. Since 2019 the atmospheric Café Metsäpaahtimo has operated there. The delicious smells coming from within pull you in, even if you weren’t in mood for a coffee. As you step inside the café, you might meet Petteri Prioteasa—the café owner, who has a lot on his plate in the summer.

Petteri Prioteasa is from Kouvola; his father is romanian and came to Finland in 1972. Before coming to Lapinlahti Petteri was traveling around the world for several years—at first by himself and later with his fiancee, Janita. These days their family also includes a two-year-old daughter. Petteri tells that after seven years of traveling, he and Janita were in a point of their life where they felt it was time to settle down in Finland. They decided to start a business that would be aligned with the values they learned while traveling, “world raising”, as Petteri says. He has a company called SampoKone, which buys coffee from small Indian farms and imports it to Finland. Earlier the business also had a café bike called Sampo-bike that functioned as a vending spot both in the streets and in different festivals. Its operation revolved around roasting and bagging coffee and selling Indian dosa pancakes, among other things.

One day Petteri came to deliver ice cream to Café Lähde and stayed to chat with the staff. One thing they talked about was yoga that was held in the house. Petteri told the staff that Janita was interested in starting a wellness company in Lapinlahti. That came true through Essi Nousu of Visit Peace—and so Petteri also became attached to Lapinlahti. He remembers especially sitting down on a large tree trunk at the shoreline and seeing the nature in the park. Another time he was visiting a friend’s workroom in Venetsia building, and walked past an empty space, the same one Metsäpaahtimo is in now. Petteri asked the CEO of Lapinlahden Lähde if it were possible to establish a café in that space. The response was affirmative: a café would fit the spirit of the area.

However, opening a café wasn’t without problems. The space needed a renovation: it was lacking a floor, water, and enough electricity. But that didn’t discourage Petteri, and he is still always ready to work on fixing things. And there is always something to fix. Petteri’s father also helped with building the café and its terrace. The café opened in late 2019, and you can already guess the adversary that came next: the Coronavirus pandemic. Petteri says that it also helped a little. At first, it was quiet in the café because citizens didn’t know about it, but the pandemic brought people getting fresh air in the Lapinlahti park as new customers.

Petteri is thankful and amazed at having found a place like Lapinlahti to work in. When Petteri and Janita came back to Finland from their travels, they thought they could do someting more for people’s wellbing in addition to yoga and physical therapy. That’s where they came up with the thought of nutrition that supports wellbeing. The milieu of Lapinlahti and its peace is also crucial, because they allow Petteri to do well. “If we didn’t do well in a place, how could we provide wellbeing to others?” Petteri asks.

He also sees that Lapinlahti provided an opportunity for “low stakes” entrepreneurship. Petteri and Janita didn’t have the money to rent a finished café space nor did they have experience, but they were able to start with a clean slate and create a café that was unique. Petteri emphasizes that he wants to work with people who see possibilities, and not just problems. Another important thing in Lapinlahti is community. He feels that the people in the area are likeminded, even if they work in different fields.

Petteri’s hope for the future is that a the uniqueness of Lapinlahti would be more widely recognized, and that it wouldn’t be erased from the map. It would also be good to get some certainty to the future of Lapinlahti. The fate of the area is still open, and Petteri feels it makes harder to plan for the future, as in making bigger financial investments. Venetsia building also needs renovating, and Petteri wishes the operators of the house would be listened to when making decisions.

Petteri’s own future is open: he has other plans in addition to the café, that are waiting for him to have more resources away from the everyday function of the café. Staying in Lapinlahti isn’t out of the picture, and Petteri could be in the space even in ten years. He also has multiple plans for expanding the café’s operations and space.

We hope the plans come true! Thank you for the interview, Petteri, and good luck for the future! You can learn more about Petteri’s company at www.sampokone.fi.