Flavours from around the world at the Riga Food 2026 trade fair in Ķīpsala!

Riga Food 2026, the largest Baltic food industry trade fair, will take place at the Ķīpsala International Expo Centre on 10–12 September, bringing together over 400 companies from 30 countries and food industry professionals from all over the world. Three-day event will be packed with exciting professional competitions, discussions on current trends and strategic business meetings. Come, taste and experience!


More than 400 companies from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Czechia, South Africa, Egypt, Finland, Greece, Great Britain, Moldova, Nepal, India, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweeden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, or the total of 30 countries, have chosen this year’s trade fair at Ķīpsala as the platform for showcasing their latest food, beverage production and processing innovations, technologies and developments. Latvia, Azerbaijan, Greece, Slovakia, Italy, Ukraine and Uzbekistan will also have their national stands at the Riga Food 2026.

Trade fair will offer an opportunity to see a wide variety of products from local producers all at once – there will be products from experienced Latvian companies and medium-size producers, as well as smaller businesses and artisan producers. To appreciate local flavours and diversity of products from Latvian producers, you can visit Latvian national stand, stands of National fisheries industry and Aquaculture, Regional Flavours, Latvian Dairy Committee and section of Latvian regions. Participant catalogue: www.bt1.lv/rigafood/catalogue.php

Products from Latvian regions
Visitors of the Latvian Hall of Riga Food 2026 will have a chance to enjoy the rich culinary heritage and local products of Latvian regions, as well as finding out more about the modern food industry technologies. Bauska, Rēzekne, Salaspils, Mārupe, Ludza, Valmiera, southern Kurzeme and other regions will present their authentic culinary range. For the first time ever, there will also be the Aquaculture stand! Latvian Association of Winegrowers and Winemakers will showcase locally made wines, which reflect the evolution and ever-growing excellence of domestic winemaking sector. Meanwhile, Latvian beekeepers will open the curtain into the marvellous world of honey – from traditional flavours to entirely new renditions of bee products.

Latvian innovations
Discover food innovations is the section where Latvian companies, startups, research institutes, students and tech developers will congregate to demonstrate their latest food production, digital transformation, automation and product development solutions. Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies (LBTU) Student Business Incubator will showcase innovations, prototypes and business ideas developed by students, revealing how ideas generated during university studies are converted into actual products and business opportunities. Visitors will not only be able to see and try various innovations, such as crab ice-cream, but also become start-up founders during a mock activity “Create your own start-up in five minutes!”. Meanwhile, industry professionals will offer to meet the young talents and talk partnerships at their section. This section is coordinated by the LBTU.

Business networking
Riga Food is increasingly becoming not only a place where new products and trends are presented, but also a platform for international business networking and partnership search. Trade fair is expected to bring together food industry players and keen clients from all over the world. Company representatives from 20 countries have already confirmed their participation in Riga Food B2B Matchmaking Event. Https://ej.uz/rf26_matchmaking

Diverse range of events
In addition to trade fair, Riga Food 2026 will also offer lots of interesting events for both industry professionals and foodies. Official opening of Riga Food 2026 will take place on 10 September at 11:00 on the Mains Stage of Latvian Hall. It will be followed by the award ceremony of the 1st New Dairy Product Competition. Whereas Latvian Packaging Association will establish and award the winners of most sustainable packaging competition on 12 September at 15:00. Detailed programme of Riga Food 2026 events is available here: https://ej.uz/rf26_pasakumi

Professional competitions
Visitors will be able to also follow thrilling shows and competitions as best of the best will take the centre stage at Ķīpsala with competitions for chefs, apprentice chefs, pastry chefs, bartenders, servers, tea and BBQ masters. The prestigious cocktail competition Monin Cup Latvia 2026 will take place on the Gemoss Stage on 10 September. Winner of the competition will represent Latvia at the Monin Cup 2026 European region semi-finals in London. Semi-finals and finals of the Latvian Shashlik Masters’ Championship will take place in Ķīpsala on 10-11 September and celebrate the best Latvian shashlik masters. On 11 September, cooking competition area will offer spectators the Latvian Restaurant Pastry Chef 2026 with most talented pastry chefs will battle for the Lavazza Golden Cup travelling prize. It will be followed by chefs’ competition during which cooks will showcase their skills and fight for the title of the Best Latvian Chef 2026, Best Latvian Apprentice Chef 2026. The Reaton Golden Ladle will, however, be won only by the most talented of them. Whereas on Friday, Gemoss Stage will become the service excellence venue. Four hospitality professionals will take the stage of the Latvian Hospitality Star 2026 competition to crown the most professional server who will receive a professional development grant of 5000 euro.

Cake festival
12 September is a special Riga Food day for the cake lovers as there will be two pastry competitions taking place in Ķīpsala. Gemoss Stage will host the Latvian Cake Parade, while cooking competition area will become the arena for the competition selecting a winner of TV3 and Rimi contest Cake for My City. Latvian Cake Parade is expected to attract 20 avid cake makers from all over Latvia. Recipes passed down generations and novelty recipes, local flavours and personal stories combined with modern approaches to pastry-cooking, creativity and aesthetics. Whereas finals of the cooking show Cake for My City will crown the cake that is most characteristic of the uniqueness, taste and story of a particular Latvian town. Finals will be moderated by cake master Anna Panna and Rimi Chef Normunds Baranovskis. Both of these competitions will please both the eyes and the taste buds of the spectators.

Insightful discussions
A prominent place in the agenda of Riga Food 2026 is occupied by discussions on the future path of the food industry and current consumption trends. On 10 September, the Main Stage of Riga Food will bring together nutrition, sports and product development experts for the discussion “High-protein era. Consumer demand or marketing trend?”. Discussion programme on 11 September will be opened by Regional flavours forum “Local products, local potential”, followed by discussion “Fermenting. Back to the roots or merely a fad? The difference between science and esoteric” at 14:10. Panellists will include nutritionist Ansis Zauers, Dr Sc Ing Asnate Ķirse-Ozoliņa, LBTU leading researcher, Rūta Mūrniece, CEO of Ķelmēni, and content creator Rūta Beirote. And, on 12 September, the focus of discussions will be coffee. Discussion “Truth about coffee – myths, trends and reality” with coffee expert Ilze Laukalēja-Broka, Martins Drungilas, founder of Closer Coffee, and Laura Zemļicka, Head of Quality Control at Löfbergs Latvia, discussing quality of coffee, market trends and most common myths. More at: https://ej.uz/rf26_pasakumi

Young professionals
Zero Waste Challenge 2026, Baltic vocational school competition, will take place throughout the 10th of September. Up and coming chefs will showcase how skilful they are with using products in a sustainable and meaningful way. Meanwhile, Riga Food Guest Room will offer interactive masterclasses titled Food Heroes, during which school children and young people will be able to engage in practical Zero Waste themed activities. And, on 10 September, LBTU will organise a discussion “What makes a product innovative?” where start-up professionals and researchers will talk about development of new food products and their journey from a concept to marketable products.

Masterclasses for kids
12 September is also a family and kids-day at the fair as the Main Stage will offer two practical, knowledge-filled master classes for the “little chefs”. Viāna Kuļša, nutritionist, will deliver her masterclass What’s in my box? At 10:30, exploring the contents of a healthy lunchbox with little participants, and at 11:40, Ina Poliščenko, chef, will teach kids how to make delicious snacks full of nutrients during her masterclass Healthy snacks – energy balls. The aim of these masterclasses is to teach children about healthy nutrition in an exciting way and show them how to make the smartest product and cooking choices every day. “Lunchbox is not only about food you can take with you, but it also teaches children how to make smart choices” Viāna Kuļša underlines. “Healthy snacks can also be as colourful, tasty and fascinating as regular snacks”, Ina Poliščenko adds.

The diverse world of the tea
Tea culture is another special focus of this year’s trade fair. Tea competition area and the exhibition space of the Latvian Tea Association will let the visitors discover the traditional tea culture as well as modern tea drinking and preparation techniques. Riga Tea Days in Ķīpsala have a really diverse programme. From Japanese tea guessing game Chakabuki and Fujian tea masterclasses to matcha preparation, buckwheat tea and Hōjicha tasting. Presentations of functional Kombuchas based on several potent teas. On 10 September, botanical storyteller Anna Grase, will deliver masterclass “Stories from the plant world”, while Ilva Sakne’s (Tea House Gaba) masterclass From cliff to cup will take place on 11 September. Water as one of the key elements that affects how much we enjoy tea will also be front and centre. Visitors will discover the art of choosing water together with the first certified water sommelier in Eastern Europe Dan Volevah. Riga Tea Days will culminate in tea making competition Baltic Tea Cup on 12 September. Tea masters will compete for the professional title of it.

The first ever charity BBQ brunch in Latvia
On 12 September, from 11:00 to 16:00 area at the entrance of the Ķīpsala Expo Centre will turn into the venue for the first ever charity BBQ brunch in Latvia. All donations will be transferred to POGA Rehabilitation Centre and used for treatment of its little patients. Several celebrities have confirmed their participation, so visitors will be able to meet them, have a chat, take photos and also enjoy delicious BBQ meals cooked by them. There will be MMA fighters Kristaps Zutis and Arturs Skabarnieks, content makers Ina and Uldis (InaUldis17), Lauris and Romija from the Best Fitness Channel (“Labākais fitnesa kanāls”), fashion designer Indra Salceviča, media content creators Brigita Dambe, Jānis Krīvēns, Edgars Bāliņš and rapper Ozols. Entry fee isa a 20-euro donation. “This is not just a BBQ event. It is a chance to meet in person those whom we usually watch on social media through their daily feeds, or television and stage. It is also something we can do together to make a real difference and help recovering children live a more fulfilled life,” Pipars, the creator of the celebrity brunch, confirms.

Riga Food: place where new ideas and good partnerships are born
This is the 31st Riga Food trade fair. For more than three decades it has been a vital platform for the Baltic food industry. It is a gathering attended by food producers, wholesale and retail companies, HoReCa industry, technology developers and other stakeholders in the food industry.
Riga Food is organised by BT1 International Expo Company. www.bt1.lv

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Opening hours:
10–11 September: 10:00–18:00
12 September: 10:00–17:00

Tickets:
Adults: €10
Students, disabled: €8
Group ticket (10+) for pupils, students: €6

Friday and Saturday only!
Family ticket (2 adults + 2 children aged 7–18): €25+€2 for each next child
Children under 7 (accompanied by adult): free

Buy tickets in advance for special price: https://ej.uz/rf26_biļetes