Gourmets and food industry professionals from around the world to meet at Riga Food 2023!

This autumn, on 7-9 September, the International Exhibition Centre in Ķīpsala will host Riga Food 2023, the biggest food industry event in the Baltics, which will once again take up the centre’s two halls and offer an unprecedentedly extensive programme of events intended for food industry professionals as well as gourmets.

More than 420 companies from at least 30 countries will present their latest innovations, technologies, and advances in food and beverage production and processing at Ķīpsala International Exhibition Centre. The fair will feature the joint national booths of 8 countries: Latvia, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Ukraine, Italy, Spain, Georgia, Canada.

For three days, professionals will learn about the latest developments in the food industry, meet clients, and work to grow their business, while gourmets will discover new flavours, get ideas for their menus, attend competitions and shows by chefs, pastry chefs, bartenders, and grill experts.

Looking for that Latvian flavour!
24 Latvian companies will present their sweets, beer, spices, jams, juices, preserves, meat products, dairy products, and many other delicious foods at the joint national booth of Latvia, including Ādaži meat house, Balticovo, ‘Jaunpils pienotava’, Very Berry, ‘H2O manufaktūra’, Kronis, Valežs. The joint national booth will also be the place to discover and taste various ciders, made by such participants of the ‘Latvian path of cider’ as: ‘Sabiles sidrs’, ‘Abavas dārzi’, Tālava, Abuls, ‘Mūrbūdu sidrs’, Herbst, Zilver, ‘Līgatnes vīna darītava’, Turkalne, Lauskis, and ‘Kabiles muižas vīna darītava’. Members of the Latvian Bakers’ Association will present the wide range of products by Latvian bread manufacturers: Dona, Lāči, ‘N. Bomja maizes ceptuve “Lielezers”’, ‘Hanzas maiznīca’, Puratos Latvia (Pūre brand products), and Lanordija, a subsidiary of Orkla Group.

All the biggest Latvian manufacturers of fish products will participate in the joint booth of the fishing industry: Royal Nordic, Syfud, Verģi, Karavela (with its Kaija brand), Sudrablīnis (with its Express Gourmet ready meal brand).

Latvian regions’ gastronomic delights
Every region of Latvia has its own special story and culinary heritage, and the fair’s guests will be able to fully experience this by visiting the Latvian region and Region Flavours exhibitions. Small and medium enterprises, farms, and artisanal producers will present and sell their foods and culinary heritage. On Honey Avenue you will be able to taste and buy honey made by Latvian beekeepers, as well as various honey mixtures such as honey with raspberries, pollen, bee bread, etc.

Baltic innovations
Riga Food will present the achievements of the food industry in all three Baltic states: in the Latvian and Baltic innovation booths, you will discover the latest products and solutions developed by businesses and scientists. For example, RTU Latvian Maritime Academy will present an innovative sublimation technology for fish processing intended to create a versatile and balanced diet with high nutritional value and a long shelf life; Kayamba will show a modulated crystal freezing technology; LifeTree Cheese will demonstrate vegan camembert, feta, and mozzarella; OX Collagen will offer collagen snacks for beauty and health; ‘Nastia garden’ will bring dry cheddar cheese ice cream; Tastik Crickets will come to the fair with grasshopper snacks and grasshopper protein bars. But that’s not all! Visit the innovation booths to taste the latest and most advanced Baltic foods.

The grand opening of Riga Food 2023 will take place in Conference Hall 3, at 11:00 on 7 September. Immediately after the opening there will be a Nordic International Cider Awards ceremony. 75 producers from 18 countries with 240 cider varieties will take part in this year’s competition. At 11:50, Latvian companies that had a successful start in the Ukrainian packaging competition will receive their awards.

B2B Marketplace, for growing your business
Everyone interested will get the chance to create their profile in the Riga Food B2B Marketplace and arrange business meeting appointments, in order to find new customers, new business partners, and new markets. Riga Food 2023 participants can also register in the B2B Marketplace for free and set up five meetings! For the first time in the history of the fair, the B2BMatch meetings will take place at the booths of the participants. So far, 72 companies from 21 countries have applied to participate in the B2B Marketplace. You can register here. B2B Marketplace is organised by the Latvian Technology Centre and the Enterprise Europe Network in Latvia.

The Baltic Taste Award food quality competition
On 7 September, Ķīpsala will be the venue of The Baltic Taste Award, a prestigious food competition that will take place for the first time in the Baltics, assessing foods submitted by manufacturers from Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. An international jury of professionals will evaluate foods produced by Baltic companies, with Taigo Lepiks, head chef of the President of Estonia, Alain Hostert, Worldchefs Central Europe regional director from Luxembourg, Fri?geir Ingi Eir?ksson, the president of Bocuse d’Or in Iceland. The companies will get an assessment of their products, while on 8 and 9 September, consumers will be able to see the products submitted to the competition and displayed in a separate exhibition in the Exhibition Centre lobby. The best foods will receive awards in the Riga Food living room, on 9 September, at 12:00 .

Nordic and Baltic Cider Awards events
Immediately after the Nordic and Baltic Cider Awards ceremony, the fair’s guests will be able to visit the Cider Festival with tastings of ciders from Latvia and other countries, which will take place at the joint Latvian national booth in Hall 2, from 12:00 to 15:00. ‘The festival will have ciders made by participants from 18 countries. This year, we want to place particular emphasis on natural cider, produced by Latvian cider-makers from apples grown in local apple orchards,’ said Asnate Ziemele, head of the Latvian Country Tourism Association.
On 8 September, from 10:00 to 14:00, Baltic and international cider professionals and experts will have a public discussion in English. In addition to the discussion, there will be an exhibition of Latvian and Baltic cider apple varieties set up by the Dobele Institute of Horticulture in Conference Room 1.

About the philosophy of zero-waste cuisine
On 7 September, from 12:00 to 17:00, the Zero Waste Challenge competition for teams from Baltic vocational schools will take place, inviting young chefs to think about food and food industry waste. One of its challenges will be to leave as little waste as possible after cooking. Six schools in total are expected to take part in the competition, two for each of the Baltic states.

Latvian bartenders to contend in cocktail competitions
On 7 September, the Monin Cup Latvia 2023 cocktail competition will take place on the GEMOSS 30th anniversary stage at Riga Food 2023. This year’s theme is ‘Sharing the Unforgettable’. The challenge for the bartenders will be to create cocktails that excite all the human senses. The cocktail’s recipe will also have to tell a story of the bartender’s vision of the world. On Friday, 8 September, popular bartender duo, the Reizenbergs brothers, will climb onto the stage and challenge each other in the non-alcoholic cocktail competition ‘Andris Reizenbergs vs Inguss Reizenbergs’.

Kitchen talks in the Riga Food living room
Sustainability and energy efficiency will be the topic of a discussion by head chefs from the Baltics on 7 September, from 14:00 to 15:30: head chef and co-owner of the Estonian restaurant Fotografiska Peeter Pihel, ambassador of the Lithuanian Sustainability Academy Justinas Kapkovičius, head chef and owner of ‘Pavāru māja Līgatnē’ Ēriks Dreibants, and board member of ‘Pavāru klubs’ Svetlana Riškova. If you are also interested in sustainability in our food system, come and join the discussion on this relevant issue.

French Gourmet Day
This year, a delegation of French manufacturers will visit the fair, and on 8 September, from 12:00 to 17:00, it will offer the French Gourmet Day, with presentations of premium drinks and products from France. The fair’s guests will be able to discover red, white, and rosé wines traditional to French cuisine presented by Vignobles Vellas and Maison Sinnae, Rhum Isautier premium rum, Champagne Arlaux from the Champagne region, Comte de Grasse gins, Maison Boteh jams and spices, and Armin Armagnac, which is still more popular than cognac in France. The French Gourmet Day events will be joined by French gastronomy and hospitality experts, discussing and showcasing the gastronomic differences between French regions, serving methods, and changes in consumer culture.

Baltic Grill Championship
The entrance to the Exhibition Centre in Ķīpsala will immediately tempt its guests with the aroma of grilled food, thanks to the Grill Park set up in the fair’s outdoor area. Across all three days of the fair, there will be grill duels, grill competitions, a grilling contest, demonstrations, and tastings. Riga Food 2023 will also be the place for determining the Baltic Grill Champion! There will even be an exhibition of grilling equipment where guests will be able to see and buy a variety of grilling equipment, from all kinds of grills to grill bars, to smart coal. The fair’s guests will be able to get professional advice on choosing the best grills and accessories.

Deciding the best chefs!
The Latvian Chef of the Year 2023 and Latvian Assistant Chef of the Year 2023 competition will take place at the fair on 8 September, to determine Latvia’s best chef, and to promote growth, sharing of experience and cooperation in this profession in the country. Latvia’s leading chefs will bring their talent, skills, and expertise to win the title of Latvian Chef of the Year. The motto of this year’s competition is Zero Waste (in the kitchen).

Latvian chefs will compete to participate in the world-renowned Bocuse d’Or!
Nils Ģēvele, Juris Latišenoks, Jegors Poruļevs: three young and talented chefs who are well known in Latvia have accepted the challenge and will compete at Riga Food 2023 for a place in the semi-finals of Bocuse d’Or, the world’s most prestigious cooking competition. Chefs, students, industry professionals, and anyone interested are welcome to come and watch the Latvian national team, get inspired, and support their favourite in Hall 2 on 9 September, from to 16:30.

Cake competition
On 9 September, from 11:00 to 16.00, the GEMOSS anniversary stage will be the location of the ‘Paaudžu mantojums’ (‘Heritage of the Generations’) cake competition, hosted by head chef Ina Poliščenko. ‘The cake competition is a great chance for cake experts to showcase their skills, their personal touch, the culinary heritage of their region, and to find new clients,’ Ina said.
The fair’s guests will see the work of cake experts from all regions of Latvia. The goal of the competition is to promote cake baking skills, to encourage the transfer of the best recipes from generation to generation and the use of natural products in cakes. Latvia’s leading pastry chefs and guests of Riga Food will evaluate the cakes.

Visit here for a detailed event schedule of Riga Food 2023.

The fair is organised by The International Exhibition Company BT 1.

Follow the news of the fair on its website: www.rigafood.lv,
and on social media: www.facebook.com/rigafood
www.instagram.com/fair_riga_food

Fair opening hours:
7-8 September 10:00-18:00
9 September 10:00-17:00

Tickets:
Entry ticket: EUR 6.00
Family ticket (2 adults and 2 children): EUR 14 (Friday and Saturday only)
We offer early-bird ticket prices! www.bt1.lv/rigafood/buytickets.php

Parking: EUR 5.00