EU – Baltic States, Foodstuff, Good for Business, Markets and Companies

"We expect this trend to remain present until the end of the year. At the same time, it is difficult to predict what will happen next year," said Salmela.

He said that increase of sales has been thanks to bigger recognition of Hesburger among Baltic residents. "We have observed that when entering a new market, seven to eight years are needed to get comfortable in the market. It is a long period," he said.

He also said that Hesburger this year plans to invest about EUR 3 million in Latvia, open two new restaurants in Riga this year, and one restaurant in Jurmala early next year.

As reported, Hesburger sales in the Baltic states reached EUR 58 million in 2016, including EUR 19.8 million in sales in Latvia, growing 10.6% from 2015. Sales in Lithuania rose by 25.5% to EUR 17.9 million, and sales in Estonia increased by 7% to EUR 20.3 million.

Hesburger was founded in 1966 and is currently operating in nine countries with a total of 445 restaurants. The first Hesburger fast food restaurant in Latvia was opened in 2004, and at present the number of restaurants in Latvia has reached 44.