Today the demand for plant-based protein is growing rapidly due to increased awareness of animal protein growing costs and limited supply and has been highly related to biodiversity loss, climate change, and freshwater depletion. Legumes are in demand for their high content of protein, minerals, vitamins, and carbohydrates, also including dietary fibre. Legumes are rich not only in macronutrients and micronutrients but also contain anti-nutritional factors. One of the most important anti-nutritive properties of legumes is their high trypsin activity. The length of time required for the preparation of legumes has limited their frequency of use compared to recommended intake levels. By heat treatment, an anti-nutritional component in legumes can be mostly separated. The possibility of using extrusion cooking, microwave dryer, roasting equipment, etc., is widely studied. Roasting is one of the widespread methods for treatment of legumes that significantly enhances the texture, flavour, colour, and product appearance. The latest studies in the legume treatments report valuable results after the combined treatments, wet roasting, which includes: dehulling, soaking, and roasting. Heat treatment can be a potential way to improve legumes use in food production: reducing the time required for treatment, preparation and improving nutritional value. l

Meat products play an important role in the human diet. They are one of the main sources of proteins, trace elements, structural components, as well as vitamins that stimulate human growth and physical activity. Raw meat refers to perishable food. There are many methods of preserving the quality and shelf-life of meat products, however, in recent years, freeze-drying is becoming more and more popular, and it combines two technological steps — freezing and vacuum drying. During the process, the product undergoes dehydration by removing water to a humidity level of 2–5%. The principle of the process involves transforming the product from a frozen phase to a gaseous phase, bypassing the liquid phase. The purpose of the article is to study the possibility and relevance of the freeze-drying process in the meat industry and to examine its advantages and disadvantages, as well as the probability of growth. During this research it was revealed that in the use of freeze-drying in the meat industry for certain purposes, it is still necessary to study and adjust in order to introduce it into a particular production. However, with regard to large enterprises where various production problems often arise this technology would not only help solve these problems, but also increase the range of innovative products and expand sales markets.

Ensuring the spatial development of regional agricultural systems in Ukraine during martial law requires a comprehensive study and implementation of urgent effective tools and mechanisms. The hostilities had a negative impact on agriculture, disrupting the regional structure of agricultural production and consumption, destroying agricultural land, assets, enterprises in certain regions of Ukraine, and reducing the volume of agricultural exports through traditional logistics channels. The aim of the study is use territorial marketing to ensure the development of regional agricultural systems in Ukraine. It is based on the analysis of regional structure of agricultural systems in Ukraine, clustering of regional agricultural systems in terms of relative security of sustainable agriculture, and mechanisms of land use development. The regional structure of agricultural systems in Ukraine is analysed and the territories where the ecosystem is destroyed and unsuitable for agriculture, which are temporarily occupied are identified. The dynamics of planted area of agricultural crops under the harvest were assessed, clusters of regional agricultural systems of Ukraine during martial law were identified. Based on research results, the use of territorial marketing is proposed, a mechanism for sustainable agriculture and strategic land use planning is developed. Prospects intend to ensure spatial development of regional agricultural systems in Ukraine during martial law by relocating agricultural enterprises to relatively safe regions, creating of integrated entrepreneurial agricultural structures, developing of public-private partnerships, attracting investments and introducing innovations, digitalization in agriculture, developing exports within the framework of cross-border cooperation, increasing employment in agriculture due to internal migration processes, etc.

Social enterprises, as an interdisciplinary form of business, often face problems that traditional enterprises and civil society organizations have already overcome: lack of legal framework, complex business models, business identity problems, lack of public awareness, lack of visibility and difficulty in accessing investment markets. The name ‘social entrepreneurship’ makes it clear that it is not easy to have a business oriented towards a social goal, because ‘social’ implies that the business is directed to the goal of reducing social problems and enhancing the quality of life, which, besides being expensive, is also a complex process. The purpose of the article is to reflect the challenges faced by representatives of social entrepreneurship in Latvia: before April 1, 2018, when this type of business was non-profit, and after, when the opportunity was given to establish a profit-making social enterprise. In order to achieve the goal, following tasks are set — to provide a theoretical explanation of social entrepreneurship, as well as, with the help of empirically obtained information, to reveal the challenges faced by representatives of social entrepreneurship in Latvia. According to interviewed informants, the main challenges for social entrepreneurs in Latvia are the lack of qualified employees, institutional cooperation and funding, which would allow organizations to effectively carry out their business; in addition, difficulties are caused by situations when financing is too complex or difficult to access, and social entrepreneurship lacks public support. Rather often, social entrepreneurs lack knowledge about business risks and how to plan their business in the long term.

In August 2021, we carried out a study of the needs of socially isolated people in the Preiļi and Līvāni districts of Latvia. The aim was to identify the real situation of social exclusion in rural areas of Latvia in order to provide a more complete picture of the needs of socially excluded groups and thus contribute to regional development policy, especially from the perspective of social inclusion. The qualitative research approach was chosen to acquire information: interviews with representatives of socially excluded groups and semi-structured interviews with professionals working with different categories of socially excluded people. Social exclusion is a sensitive topic for those who are socially disadvantaged, so the basic principles of research ethics were strictly observed: personal autonomy, non-harm, confidentiality and fairness. The study found that the most pronounced form of social isolation is exclusion from the labour market. People who are unemployed, are trapped in a ‘poverty cycle’ from which they cannot escape without the help of social institutions. The information obtained does not confirm the long-standing assumption that long-term unemployed are mere ‘consumers of the system’, nor does it confirm the assumption that socially isolated people have high expectations of a high salary. Sometimes existing attempts to improve the situation of socially isolated people are not in line with their real needs, thus failing to achieve the intended goal. In general, the specificity of the region is such that there are no mass one-size-fits-all solutions, but each situation and problem has to be tailored individually.

The objective of this research was to design an economically efficient logistics management model for fuel retail enterprises to improve their competitiveness. In the current global market situation, fuel retail enterprises face various challenges, such as sharp increase in raw material price, intense market competition, high price sensitivity, low profitability, and significant logistics costs. By combining theoretical and practical insights, an improved logistics management model was designed, which provides significant competitive advantage for fuel retail enterprises. The designed model incorporates and integrates three distinct logistics arrangements, resulting in considerable advantages for fuel retail enterprises. These advantages include a reduction in logistics costs and increased independency from the fluctuating logistics service expenses. To determine the economic efficiency of the designed logistics management model, it was validated by using data obtained from a fuel retail enterprise based in Sweden. Results of the research indicated that the fuel retail enterprise can anticipate an annual reduction in logistics costs ranging from 2.91% to 3.32% from the implementation of the improved logistics management model. On top of that, the developed logistics management model is projected to be economically viable until 2027, assuming the continuation of the current market trends and conditions. The findings of the research suggest that other fuel retail enterprises may also benefit from implementation of the designed model in the current market conditions.

Developed transport and storage sector has up-most importance for production capacities in regions, especially in rural areas, ensuring supplies and deliveries, including well-developed and maintained infrastructure, transport vehicles, IT systems and human capital. Till 2040 demand for highly-educated and qualified logistics specialists will increase in Latvia due to growing labour costs, introduction of new technologies and digital solutions. The aim of the study is to identify the recent trends that give valuable findings for education and regional development policy elaboration and implementation in order to achieve balanced regional development promoting also rural development. The findings reveal that the higher the share of population with higher education the higher the wages. The regions with the larger share of population with higher education are mainly urban and pre-dominantly urban regions. However, transport and logistics sector is in all regions as well as demand for logistics specialists. Balanced regional development is crucial for sustainable development in national and the European Union level.

Innovations are very important condition and tool for competitive entrepreneurship. To obtain more effective approaches, researchers are devoting deepened analysis for many factors influencing innovations and innovative activities indicating that there is an important influence on different sources of information on innovations — own company, co-operation with universities and business incubators, with research organisations. Empirical research results were based on survey results of entrepreneurs and on analysis of obtained survey results by use of descriptive statistics indicators confirmed that entrepreneurs in Kurzeme region biggest inspiration get in their own company as well as from suppliers of equipment, programs and materials but they have less influence on information about innovations from universities and other higher education institutions as well as private organisations, also research organisations.

A regional analysis of performance indicators for Latvian business incubators provides a valuable insight into the performance of the business incubator ecosystem in various regions and helps to make future policy decisions on providing funding for the incubators that aim to support the growth and success of start-ups. The present research performed a regional analysis of operational programmes for two periods from 2007 to 2021. The strengths and weaknesses of Latvian business incubators across various regions of Latvia could be identified based on the analysis. This can help to make policy decisions and guide resource allocation to contribute to the development of the business incubator ecosystem in the future.

The topic of this article is relevant because in Lithuania the assessment of the area occupied by plantations and green spaces has shown that the area standards do not meet the requirements and recommendations of the World Health Organization. Green spaces are regulated differently in different countries of the European Union. Lithuania has also developed a legal framework for the protection, management and establishment of new plantations and green spaces. However, this legal framework is improving and new laws are being added to it. Comparative, analytical, as well as statistical, and logical analysis methods were used for the investigation. The data of the Land Fund of the Republic of Lithuania for 2002–2022 were used for comparative investigation. The aim of this article is to perform an analysis of the change in the trees and shrubs greenery area of Lithuania in 2002–2022. In Lithuania, for example, trees and shrubs occupied 84,687.48 ha in 2002. In 2022, the plantation area amounted to 208,609.48 ha. From 2002 to 2022 the area of tree and shrub plantations in Lithuania increased by 123,922.00 ha or 146.33%. The analysis shows that in the period between the years 2002 and 2022 the biggest increase in the area of shrubs and plantations took place in Utena County (32,715.83 ha or 395.27%), but the smallest increase in Tauragė County (2,642.93 ha or 37.69%) and Marijampolė County (4,581.39 ha or 72.25%). The development of plantation areas has been positively influenced by the creation of an appropriate legislative framework and the implementation of plantation programs in counties and municipalities.