Riga council keeps 27 million euro school meals tender open

Riga City Council will not halt the nearly 27 million euro tender to provide meals at educational institutions, despite calls from the farmers’ association Zemnieku saeima, LSM reported. Farmers say the tender’s conditions could give imported produce a significant advantage, while its quality may be difficult to verify.

The association’s objections focus mainly on the 300-kilometre delivery distance specified in the tender, measured from Riga’s administrative boundary. Zemnieku saeima says this expands opportunities for imports from neighbouring countries.

The tender covers meals at 27 educational institutions. It gives preference to organic agricultural products and lower prices, but not to products that meet the national quality scheme and other requirements.

Riga officials met with representatives of Zemnieku saeima on Thursday, but no changes to the tender were agreed.

“At the moment, we have no legal grounds to halt this tender. The evaluation process is under way, and the procurement commission is continuing its work,” Riga City Executive Director Jānis Lange said. He added that the council’s main priority was to ensure that children had meals at school.

Lange said the council had heard the farmers’ proposals and agreed to continue working on future tenders, but that this would not apply to the current procurement.

Zemnieku saeima deputy chair Maira Dzelzkalēja-Burmistre said similar tenders in several other municipalities had specified much shorter distances of 50 to 100 kilometres.

“We believe this tender should be halted and a way found to ensure that products meeting Latvian food quality standards can be included in the procurement,” Dzelzkalēja-Burmistre said.

She added that the association would monitor the outcome and protest if it resembled previous results, which she described as a lottery.