On 6 September 2006, during the Riga Food 2006 exhibition several issues were discussed.

During the discussion, the Latvian Investment and Development Agency provided information about the development of the food industry. Mr. I. Podkolzin, representative of the Agency, surveyed promising trends of the food industry.

Mr. Gerd Bommer, Commercial Attaché of the Austrian Embassy, turned the attention of participants to the fact that the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture is increasingly more concerned with marketing issues related to the products manufactured in Austria, and is paying much less attention to administrative matters. Majority of the discussion’s participants evaluated it as a positive contribution to the management.
Development and prospects of the fish industry were surveyed in great detail by Mr. I. Krupnik, Chairman of Board of Kolumbia, Ltd. It is necessary to invest in the restoration of the fishing fleet so that the industry can continue to exist. Using modern technologies, his company has learned to determine the age of sprats, and, currently, only fish that are less than four years old are used for the production of canned sprats. This allows the company to fulfil all veterinary standards. Thus, by using modern technologies, the quality of taste is maintained, and sprats, produced in Liepāja, is a fully competitive and tasty product on the markets in several countries.
Comparing opportunities for introducing products on commercial networks in the Baltic States, Ms. Ludmila Janočkova, First Secretary of the Czech Embassy, noted several differences in the approaches of commercial networks in Lithuania and Latvia; the information was interesting also for Czech entrepreneurs who represented 24 manufacturing companies in the exhibition.
Ms. Olga Suhovilova , AWEX representative in Latvia, characterized Belgian attitude towards food with a saying: „Belgians consume food with love“.
Certainly, almost everybody is familiar with the popular Belgian chocolate and beer. In Latvia the attitude towards food is also changing: food is not merely a source of energy for life anymore.
It was a constructive exchange of opinions, and the use of the new information and experience will make the practical work of companies more efficient.