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| Latvian Ambassador to Korea Peteris Vaivars, fifth from left, poses with embassy staff and representatives from Latvian food companies during a recent reception at the Latvian Embassy in Seoul to celebrate the first seminar on Latvian food and beverages. / Embassy of Latvia |
By Yi Whan-woo
More and more Koreans are developing a taste for foreign cuisines as they travel abroad more often.
The Embassy of Latvia in Korea is keeping up with this trend, launching a campaign promoting Latvian food and beverages recently after a record-high 10,000 Koreans traveled to the Baltic state last year.
Representatives from five Latvian food companies — Cido Grupa, Ilgezeem, Baltas Naktis, Lat Eko Food and Pernes L — visited Seoul when the embassy and the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia jointly co-hosted the "Latvian Food Business Seminar and B2B Meetings 2019."
The seminar offered the five firms the opportunity to promote their products and get to know potential distributors, such as retail giants Lotte Mart and E-mart, as well as CU and GS25, two of the leading convenience store chains.
"This is the first time that we organized a seminar purely for food and beverages," Latvian Ambassador to Korea Peteris Vaivars said. "A lot of Koreans are traveling abroad, studying abroad and are learning about western food. And I believe Latvia can play a very important role in this."
He said the Korean food market does not appear to be coping with changes in eating habits and that Latvia wants to help making the market "more diverse."
He described Latvian food as diverse and high quality, and, most of all, ecological, pointing out Latvia was ranked the second greenest country in the European Union this year after Sweden.
Connecting the Latvian firms with the right distributors will be key for the success of Latvian food in Korea, Ambassador Vaivars speculated.
"We are in the early stages of introducing Latvian products. We would be very happy if Latvian products and beverages, within the next three years, make their presence permanently felt in some Korean supermarket chains or convenience store chains."
Cido Grupa is the first juice manufacturer in the Baltic states. It produces beer, juices and other non-alcoholic beverages and exports them to 23 countries.
The company cooperates with global brands, producing Pepsi-Cola in its factory and distributing Heineken Beer.
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| Tanheiser Kraftbeer, Tanheiser Sweetbeer and other beverages produced by Lavia's oldest brewery Ilgezeem. / Korea Times photo by Yi Whan-woo |
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| Baltas Naktis sells over 150 bread products under the brand "Mario." / Korea Times photo by Yi Whan-woo |
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| Lat Eko Food sells premium organic products including jams and spreads under the brand, "Rudolfs."/ Korea Times photo by Yi Whan-woo |
Ilgezeem is the oldest Latvian brewery founded in 1863.
Its main products are Tanheiser Kraftbeer, a honey beer made from natural flower honey, juice and extract using an original lager recipe.
It also has Tanheiser Sweetbeer, a non-alcoholic soft drink made from barley and rye malt.
Baltas Naktis sells over 150 bread products under the brand "Mario." They include crispy breads, crackers, bread rings, gluten-free cookies, soft bagels, biscuits, meringue cookies, rye breads and rye chips.
Many products are FDA-certified and kosher. The company has won over 60 international awards for product quality and packaging.
Lat Eko Food started with baby food and now sells jams, juice, syrups, sauces, spreads, and other premium organic products for all ages under the brand "Rudolfs."
The products are 100 percent natural with no addictives, no sugar and no preservatives.
The flagship product of Pernes L is "Long Chips," made from quality potatoes that were fried for only 10 seconds to cut fat intake. It runs private labels in Brazil, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Russia, Singapore and the United Kingdom.
The whole production meets halal and kosher standards.
