About the client

Valio is a leading Finnish dairy and food company owned by regional cooperatives of dairy farmers, dedicated to offering high-quality products and responsible food solutions. Beyond manufacturing, Valio serves as a comprehensive culinary partner for consumers, providing inspiration through a library of recipes, meal planning tools, and digital services like mobile app. This customer-centric approach combines a diverse portfolio of innovative items ranging from lactose-free dairy and plant-based alternatives to ready-to-eat snacks with practical cooking tips and seasonal ideas to make daily life easier and more delicious.

Background and objectives

How do you turn a recipe app into a service that is genuinely part of user’s daily life? The app already contained solid foundational tools for everyday meal planning, such as weekly menus and shopping lists. The 2025 renewal focused on the next step: evolving the service into a personalized partner that connects with both the everyday and the celebratory moments of life.

Valio’s strategic goal was clear: to shift from a traditional recipe bank to a holistic food media platform. We at Evermade helped realize this vision and crystallized it into a digital service experience. Together, we realized that cooking is not just a single performance at the stove, but a continuous journey. Where traditional food apps focus only on the result (the recipe), we wanted to focus on the process: how does inspiration turn into shared planning and, ultimately, success?

We aimed to move from passive recipe searching to proactive planning and to offer content that entertains even outside the kitchen. To become essential, the app needed to be a personal assistant, an entertainment medium, and a shared planning platform for the whole family – all at the same time.

Our solution

We set out to execute Valio’s digital strategy by bringing personalization and entertainment to the core of the service. We carried out a comprehensive overhaul of the app, where a personalized home screen, shared folders, and a new Viihdy section turn the app into a service where users want to spend time.

Personalization: Users can now make the home screen their own by pinning their most important shortcuts and functionalities, as well as receiving recommendations based on their own preferences. This ensures the most critical tools are exactly where the user needs them.

Community: We brought a new dimension to the app. Food has always been a way to be together – it gathers families and friends around the same table. Users longed for the ability to share plans, so we made the app communal: folders can be shared so that cottage trips, Christmas dinners, or everyday meal plans are easily created together.

The Viihdy section: This section made the app more than just a practical tool. Food is about moments, stories, and experiences. We integrated podcasts, videos, and articles into the user experience, elevating the app from a utility to a media platform where one can learn and find new ideas. We also introduced color schemes that delighted the users – for example, the purple of the Viihdy section was selected based on user research.

Smart search: Revamped search paths ensure that the right inspiration is found among thousands of recipes in seconds. We developed search functionality to support more diverse queries based on ingredients or seasons.

Recipe page redesign: We moved away from a distinct cooking mode and focused on making the recipe page itself more delicious and easier to use. A new toolkit button consolidates cooking tools (like timers and personal notes) directly within the recipe context. This ensures visual inspiration and practical tools serve both quick weekday cooking and precise gourmet preparation.

Seamless lists: Weekly menus and shopping lists were redesigned for a more continuous user experience. Ingredients can be moved to the shopping list with one click, and the list can be supplemented with other household needs. Strategically, we also aimed to support product sales growth by integrating products naturally into the context via recipe highlights and personalized new product recommendations on the shopping list.