He said: “There are different estimates, both suppliers who work with restaurants and our own polls, but the rough estimate is that about 10% of colleagues have gone out of the market.”
Jenzis said that this autumn and this winter will be crucial for the future of businesses in the sector, which is expected to be of great concern to the industry. The Ministry of Economics has set up a working group in time to develop autumn scenarios, but there is still no clarity for entrepreneurs, Jenzis said.
“It would be very undesirable to get into last year's situation, when everything is locked in virtually a day and then is closed for half a year,” Jenzis said.
Jenzis also said that the summer season was more successful for the caterers last year: “If compared to 2020, when the 'Baltic bubble' was running, then this year was much worse.”
At the same time, Jenzis criticized the restrictions introduced due to the pandemic, which are higher in Latvia than in neighboring countries and in place for too long. According to the him, there is a relatively complicated testing system in Latvia to be able to visit public sites, and the availability of these testing facilities and tests should be extended.
