Latvia's Food Union eyes increasing sale of milk to China

RIGA - Latvia's major diary producer Food Union group said on Tuesday that it plans to further expand milk sale to China.

The group plans to export 300 tons of milk to China for 3 million euros, and next year to increase sales to 10 million euros, said the group's CEO Normunds Stanevics at a Tuesday meeting of the Latvian government.

Stanevics said that Food Union had been affected by the Russian food product embargo against the European Union as its sales fell considerably. Therefore Food Union focused on domestic market and worked actively on export markets, including China.

Last year, the first shipment of Food Union ice cream was sent to China, and this year the group's milk is being exported to this country. The group also started construction of a plant in China that is set to be completed in June 2017.

"China is a significant export market for Latvian dairy companies, but milk is not a product with added value. We should think about finer products. Therefore we plan to produce our Karums curds snack, yoghurt in China," said Stanevics.

He stressed that China can become a significant export market for Food Union, but Latvia should promote its image more. "In order to continue cooperation between Latvia and China, good intergovernmental relations should be formed, good official communication channels. China has to be informed that Latvia is one of the greenest countries in the world and we have good milk production traditions," he said.

Latvian Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis said much work has been done to promote Latvian products abroad and the work in this direction will continue.