Known for its distinctive sauna cabins and other leisure buildings, Tervas® is a Finnish specialist in timber construction. In recent years, the company has grown significantly despite challenging market conditions. Kauppalehti named the Kempele-based company Northern Finland’s strongest growth company of 2026. Berggren has worked with Tervas since the early days of the company, focusing on comprehensive protection of the Tervas brand and the brand of its subsidiary, Lappsuites.
Tervas® is a Finnish company specialising in holiday cabins and garden buildings, known for its high-quality garden saunas, cabins and other outdoor structures. With roots in Northern Finland, Tervas combines expertise in log construction with carefully considered design and a smooth, straightforward customer experience.
In addition to sauna cabins, the Tervas range includes garden buildings, guest cabins and larger holiday homes. The company’s strong growth is driven by broad expertise in timber construction, long-term development work, high-quality products and an efficient operating model.
The building modules are primarily assembled at the factory and delivered to the site as complete units. This enables fast and weather-resistant deliveries while minimising the amount of work required on site.
“One of the most important factors behind our success is definitely our people. We have a very broad range of expertise and people from different backgrounds, both younger and more experienced professionals. From the very beginning, it has been important for us to continuously develop our product range. We need to bring new ideas to the market and think about what new solutions people might want today. Our strategy is to launch at least one new collection every year,” says Jukka Vaaramo, Chair of the Board at Tervas and responsible for business development.
Berggren has worked with Tervas since the very early stages of the company. Berggren has supported Tervas in protecting its brand through trademarks, as well as protecting building components, spaces and design through patents and registered designs. The aim has also been to create a strong foundation for the company’s future growth.
“We have worked closely with Berggren from the very beginning. We and the people behind the company already had previous experience of why it makes sense to protect brands at an early stage. Copying is quite common, and we want to protect ourselves against it. Several of us had also had good experiences of working with Berggren before, so starting the collaboration with them felt natural,” Vaaramo says.
From an idea to a protected innovation
Alongside the Tervas brand, Berggren has also helped protect the brand of Tervas’ subsidiary Lappsuites, which focuses on larger resort-style construction projects.
“The first step was to protect the Tervas and Lappsuites trademarks. We always want to act as early as possible. Whenever one of us comes up with a new idea, we immediately consider whether it could be sufficiently unique to protect. Then we contact Berggren. Discussions with their experts help guide us in the right direction depending on the situation,” Vaaramo explains.
One of Tervas’ most popular innovations is the Tervas® Kylpytupa™ washing area, whose design has been protected with Berggren’s assistance. The concept makes washing after a sauna more comfortable and often more convenient than washing in the sauna room itself. Kylpytupa washing areas have proved highly popular and received a great deal of positive feedback from customers.
“There are many different types of cottage saunas and garden saunas. We know that the main focus is often on the sauna itself, while the washing experience has not necessarily been considered in much detail. We expanded the idea from sauna bathing alone to a broader bathing experience that also includes spending time and relaxing in the washing area.
Normally, if five people are sitting in a cottage sauna together, how does the washing actually work? Often it means quickly pouring a bucket of water over yourself somewhere and getting out. Kylpytupa™ is a separate washing area where you can have more privacy. It is not hot, and you are not exposed to other people in the same way as when washing in the sauna. It has become a very popular model for us,” Vaaramo says.
EU-level protection supports international expansion
Tervas is currently growing rapidly. In the future, the company aims to expand beyond Finland and pursue further growth through exports. With this in mind, Tervas has protected its trademarks directly at EU level rather than only in Finland.
“From the very beginning, we considered whether exports and international expansion might become relevant for us at some point. Our thinking was that we should secure protection at EU level immediately, so everything would already be in place if and when we started exporting. So far, the Finnish market has kept us fully occupied, but we already have the foundations in place when the time comes,” Vaaramo emphasises.
Even before the company expands internationally, EU-level protection helps prevent competitors operating within the EU from copying Tervas’ protected solutions or creating unnecessary disputes. The protection therefore extends beyond domestic competitors.
“It is much better to have the protection properly in place from the start than to have someone enter your territory and then be forced into a fight. We want to avoid those situations and protect new innovations as early as possible. That gives us peace of mind and allows us to avoid unpleasant disputes,” Vaaramo continues.
Getting protection right from the very beginning
In addition to providing peace of mind and security, protection through trademarks, patents and other IP rights can also strengthen credibility and trust, according to Vaaramo. Tervas has, for example, communicated openly about its trademarks as part of its marketing and communications.
“Trademarks play an important role in building trust. They help demonstrate that we are a serious player in this market,” Vaaramo says with a smile.
Thanks to comprehensive and proactive protection, Tervas has rarely needed to defend its rights or become involved in difficult disputes over potential copying. Berggren’s expertise and experience have also played an important role. Whenever needed, Tervas has been able to rely on Berggren for advice on what should be done and what options are available.
“The biggest lesson has been how important it is to put the necessary protection in place from the very beginning. It gives you peace of mind because you do not have to constantly wonder how long it will take before someone copies what you are doing. We have been able to focus on our business instead,” Vaaramo says.
“Working with Berggren has been very easy. It does not feel as though we are two separate companies. It almost feels as if we are part of the same organisation. We share the same interests and think together about what we could do next. The collaboration has been excellent, and help is always available when we need it. I hope our cooperation continues in the same way in the future,” Vaaramo concludes.
Our client experience story has been independently produced by Kokemuksia.fi. Each story has been approved by the interviewed client, and the company featured has had no opportunity to influence the content of the story.