Baltics’ major food fair Riga Food 2018 coming in September!

The Baltic’s most important food industry event – Riga Food 2018 – is to take place at Kipsala International Exhibition Centre, Riga, Latvia from 5–8 September. The Riga Food fair offers an ambitious showcase of international and domestic companies, food masters’ and premium product competitions, news presentations, educational seminars, exciting shows, master classes and tasting sessions.

Local products at the Latvian national stand

The exhibition will feature milk and meat products, bread and sweets produced in Latvia, berries, fruits and vegetables, spices, coffee, food for children and many other high-quality and delicious food products.

The 20 national companies – “Lat Eko Food”, “RKF Valežs”, “Jaunpils pienotava”, “Almarini”, “Ramkalni Nordeco”, “Mosenc”, “Dimdiņi”, “Skrīveru saldumi”, “Karameļu darbnīca”, “Kronis”, “Aloja Starkelsen”, “Naukšēni”, “Kunturi”, “Top Food”, “Smiltenes piens”, “Lubeco”, “Puratos Latvia”, “Ādažu gaļas nams” – will present them at the Latvian national stand.

100 Reasons to Eat Bread

A significant part of the Latvian National Stand will be the exhibition of Latvian Bakers’ Association, with the participation of several Latvian bakeries – “Hanzas Maiznīca”, “Lāči”, N. Bomis bakery “Lielezers”, “Vidzemes maiznīca”, “Saldus maiznieks”, “Maiznīca Flora” and “Dona”.

Latvian Bakers Association celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, therefore “Riga Food 2018” will host an anniversary symposium “100 Reasons to Eat Bread” on September 7, as well as bread paintings will be exhibited in the exhibition centre lobby.

Regions of Latvia to present Popular Taste

Home compounders, small-scale producers, small and medium-sized enterprises for the sixth consecutive year invite visitors to enjoy the local foods in the stands of all four regions of Latvia – Latgale, Kurzeme, Vidzeme and Zemgale. More than 130 participants are expected to present their products this year!

Tastiest products

Food manufacturers and masters compete for the Riga Food medals in the premium quality milk and honey competitions. The competition results will be announced following the Riga Food 2018 official opening ceremony to be held at 11.00 on 5 September (conference room No. 3).

Packaging competition
During the International Packaging Competition “Riga Food 2018 Packaging No. 1” international jury evaluates food packaging in seven categories: packaging for beverages, confectionery and sweets, milk and dairy products, meat and meat products, fish and fish products, bread and groceries, and packaging not included in these product groups. Visitors, in their turn, have an opportunity to vote for their favourite packaging, thus identifying the most popular packaging.

All of the packaging items awarded the highest places by the jury, as well as the favourites of “Riga Food 2018” visitors, will be displayed at the International Fair for Packaging and Labelling Technology “TAROPAK 2018” from 1 to 4 October in Poznan, Poland.

The best chef and apprentice chef of Latvia

Best chefs and young apprentice chefs from all over Latvia will gather at “Riga Food 2018” in Kipsala on 7 September to fight for the titles “Chef of Latvia 2018” and “Apprentice Chef of Latvia 2018”, respectively. The competition is aimed to develop the art of cooking in Latvia in accordance with the basic principles of the manifesto for contemporary Latvian cuisine – good taste, quality and healthy diet.

Chefs and apprentice chefs will team up to prepare a snack, main course and dessert. Choosing the winner, the judges will evaluate the presentation of the food, taste and food pairing, as well as the technical skills and work organization skills of the competitor. The title “Chef of Latvia 2018” will go to the chef who will showcase the best technique, innovation and teamwork skills – this may not be in the “Chef of Latvia 2018” winner team. For young chefs, this is an opportunity to get acquainted with other colleagues and attract the attention of future employers.

5th Tea Masters Cup Latvia

On 7 and 8 September the most skilful Latvian tea masters will gather at the Tea Masters Cup Latvia for the fifth time to compete in four categories: tea preparation, tea pairing, tea tasting and tea mixology. The winners of the 5th Tea Masters Cup Latvia will head on to represent Latvia at the Tea Masters Cup International.

Parallel to the Tea Masters Cup Latvia, professionals of the tea industry will give lectures on various types of tea, as well as Japanese and Korean tea ceremonies and global tea culture trends.

Bartender competition

The best bartenders of Latvia will gather at “Riga Food 2018” to compete in Evian & Badoit Latvia Cup 2018 on 6 September and the Latvian Finals of Riga Black Balsam Global Challenge 2018 on 7 September.

Visitors will also have an opportunity to show their mixology skills taking part in the competition “High Flying Cocktails of “Akmeņlauzis” 2018 visiting “Riga Food”” to be held on the “Riga Food 2018” Stage on 5 and 8 September, but other days – in “Akmeņlauzis” stand. Full programme is available at: www.bt1.lv/rigafood/visit.php#events

Tasting of the Latvian small breweries and homebrewers products

All beer lovers will be warmly welcome to “Riga Food 2018” to meet Latvian small breweries and homebrewers and taste their products. Well-known master brewers will give an insight into beer brewing and drinking traditions. Visitors will have an opportunity to taste beer, see an exhibition of collector items and find out the latest news in the beer industry.

Riga Food 2018 is held by the International Exhibition Company BT 1.

Keep up with the news: www.rigafood.lv
Riga Food on Facebook: www.facebook.com/rigafood

Opening hours:
5 September 10.00–18.00 (reserved for professionals)
6–7 September 10.00–19.00
8 September 10.00–17.00