It all began in 1928 at the land of dark Arctic winters and the midnight sun, when a blacksmith Janne Marttiini decided to establish knife factory to Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland. Janne Marttiini founded J. Marttiini’s Knife Factory Ltd. on Vartiokatu street in Rovaniemi. He sold his knives throughout the region himself and thus supported his large family. Demand for the knives and the number of employees grew steadily. In 1952 Janne’s son, Toivo Marttiini, emphasized personal customer relationships in the export markets. Marttiini was again ahead of its time with customer-specific product design: An inquiry received from the United States regarding the manufacture of filleting knives led to massive export in the 1960s. J. Marttiini’s Knife Factory Ltd. received an export award granted by the Finnish President as a recognition of “exceptionally significant export achievements” in 1967. With the user in mind, he began to create beautiful, high quality…