Sherbet with crunchy peanut chips could be classified as milk pomade. It is one of popular sweets in Latvia produced by Joint-stock Company Laima, which is one of the oldest producers of sweets in the Baltic States. Freshly made sherbet is soft and savoury but after several days’ storage at the open air gradually hardens, the product loses eye appeal, taste and becomes unmarketable. This problem limits the shelf life, so sherbet with crunchy peanut chips can be marketed only at the local market. The target of this study was to clarify the situation on the market in Latvia and to examine an issue of Latvian consumers’ awareness of milk pomade sweets – sherbet quality indicators, packaging and its presentation to consumers, as well as the sherbet market expandability. A questionnaire was developed – 800 respondents answered on the 14 questions – how well-recognized the milk pomade sweet – sherbet is, what the main features for this kind of sweets selection by consumers are, which quality indices are important for consumers. One of most important questions was to get know the consumers opinion about sweets, mainly sherbet possible packaging kind and the market turnover. Summarizing the questionnaire data, the response from consumers in Latvia was heartening – they like milk pomade candies. As a primary quality defect the hardness of sherbet was mentioned. Eliminating this main failing of quality, the demand of sherbet on the market could rise, as well the product marketing opportunities will grow.

Public food procurement is a complex system with a large number of participants, and it is regulated by a number of laws and regulations on different sectors, and there is involved a number of controlling bodies. The research aim is to explore and analyze the laws and regulations governing public food procurement in Latvia and to identify the main obstacles to food purchases from local producers. By purchasing food, local governments or authorities have to fulfill the European Union (EU) and the Latvian statutory requirements for both the correct procurement procedures, both on food safety and hygiene norms throughout the whole food product life cycle. Purchasing food from local producers is a challenge, because on the one hand, the EC Treaty and a number of other documents request the free movement of goods and equal rights for all market participants, on the other – the local community and local government is interested in providing school students with high-quality, natural food and in promoting small local businesses. The solution is to use green public procurement (GPP) criteria in the public food procurement. However, in the implementation of the GPP there are several disadvantages for both the local government and local food producers. By studying Latvian and other EU countries’ experiences, it can be concluded that barriers to local food producers to participate in local government food procurement are related to both competitiveness and production storage and regular supply assurance.