Competitors

Erika Ukkonen

WorldSkills 2024, Lyon – 5th place, Medallion for Excellence

Erika began her competition career while studying for a Vocational Qualification in the Food Industry at Esedu in Mikkeli, where she won a gold medal in the Taitaja national skills competition in 2024. In the WorldSkills competition, Erika’s coaching team included her own teacher and WorldSkills expert Juliana Hokkanen from Esedu, Markku Vengasaho from Sampo, and Joakim Helala from Optima.

EuroSkills 2025, Herning – 4th place, Medallion for Excellence

Erika prepared for the EuroSkills 2025 competition while studying for the Further Vocational Qualification in the Bakery Sector (Pastry Apprentice) at Sampo. During her training period, her apprenticeship workplace was ChocoDeli in Rovaniemi. The coaching team included EuroSkills Chief Expert Outi Suopanki, Head of the discipline Markku Vengasaho and Eija Kuningas from Sampo, as well as Joakim Helala from Optima and Emmi-Maria Kemppe from Redu.

Read also the article about Erika’s competition journey (in Finnish). You can view Erika’s portfolio here.

Jenna Kattilakoski

EuroSkills 2023, Gdansk – 3rd place

Jenna studied to become a baker–pastry chef at Optima in Pietarsaari while also completing her matriculation examination, and won the Taitaja national skills competition in 2019 under the guidance of Joakim Helala. For the EuroSkills 2023 competition, Jenna trained while studying for the Further Vocational Qualification in the Bakery Sector (Pastry Apprentice) at Esedu. Her coaching team included Markku Vengasaho and Eija Kuningas from Sampo, EuroSkills Chief Expert Outi Suopanki from Salpaus, Joakim Helala from Optima, and Juliana Hokkanen from Esedu. During her training period, Jenna’s apprenticeship workplace was Restaurang Ax Bageri.

You can view Jenna’s portfolio here.

Oskari Takkinen

WorldSkills 2022 Special Edition, Lucerne – 6th place, Medallion for Excellence

Oskari completed his basic vocational qualification at the Turku Vocational Institute (TAI) and won gold in both the Rinkeli Grand Prix (2017 and 2018) and the Taitaja national skills competition (2018). For the WorldSkills competition, Oskari trained while studying to become a pastry master at TAI. His coaching team included his personal coach Arja Korhonen-Masalin (TAI), Head of the discipline Markku Vengasaho (Sampo), WorldSkills Expert Outi Suopanki (Salpaus), and Skills High Performance Coach Juliana Hokkanen (Esedu). During his preparation period, Oskari’s apprenticeship workplace was Petri’s Chocolate.

You can view Oskari’s portfolio here.

Emeliina Papinniemi

WorldSkills 2017, Abu Dhabi – 1st place

Emeliina completed a dual qualification at Sampo under the guidance of Markku Vengasaho. She won a gold medal at the Taitaja national skills competition and was also awarded the title of Best Competitor in 2015. Emeliina competed with the Culinary Team of Finland at the Culinary Olympics in Stuttgart in 2016.

She participated in the WorldSkills 2017 competition while studying to become a pastry apprentice at Sampo, coached by her teacher and Skills Head of the discipline Markku Vengasaho, Eija Kuningas, and WorldSkills Expert Outi Suopanki. The coaching team also included Joachim Wunsch from the partner company Finnbakels. During her preparation period, Emeliina’s apprenticeship workplace was MBakery in Turku.

In Abu Dhabi, Emeliina won a historic gold medal for Finland in the pâtisserie and confectionery discipline and was also awarded the Best of Nation medal.

You can view Emeliina’s portfolio here.