The fast expansion of the timber business in the late '30s did not prevent Emil Höglund from turning his attention to other areas. In the winter 1937 the poultry breeder Karl Johan Stuns from Vöyri contacted Emil to ask whether he was interested in setting up a mink farm with him. The idea became reality and on 29th September, 1937 seventeen minks from Sweden arrived at the Holmåkers mink farm in the village of Rökiö in Vöyri.
The history of the Holmåkers mink farm was to be brief, however. Instead, the other great pioneer in the history of Keppo, Karl-Johan (Jukka) Tidström, manager of the Petsmo sawmill, and Emil Höglund jointly set up a mink farm with 60 breeding animals close to the sawmill in 1943. Emil also owned the Skata mink farm, with a hundred breeding females, in Särkimo.
In 1945 all the animals were transferred to the Petsmo fur farm, making it a large enterprise by the standards of the day, with 550 breeding animals. In 1944 the average size of Finnish mink farms was only 11 breeding animals.
This expansion process was greatly furthered by the extremely high prices then paid for pelts. In 1945 prices reached their peak, at three times 1943 level. This boom lasted only a short while, however, and in 1948 and 1949 prices dropped dramatically, causing 75% of the small farms in Ostrobothnia to close down.
But Emil and Jukka went on, and were rewarded in 1950 and 1951, when prices doubled. Gradually the farm was expanded, and in 1953 was the biggest in Finland. At the same time, systematic breeding programmes had resulted in a unique mutation, the Finlandia Topaz, which aroused great international interest. Sale of breeding animals got under way, also contributing to the turnover.
Encouraged by this success, rapid expansion of mink production was planned. On 1st August 1954, Keppo manor was placed in the hands of Emil Höglund and Karl-Johan Tidström. The manor had more than 400 hectares of woodland and 37 hectares of arable land. The new company was called Oy Keppo Ab after the manor. Karl-Johan Tidström, who held 10% of the stock, was appointed Managing Director, and Emil Höglund, with the remaining 90%, Chairman of the Board. A mink farm was built close to the manor house which was to become the biggest in the world. The name of Keppo became a household word in international mink farming.
Elis Wickström, Jukka Tidström and Emil Höglund receiving an award from Ahti Karjalainen, Minister of Trade and Industry, ath the 1961 fur exhibition in Helsinki.