Rimi stores will start approaching customers like Olympic Center trainers - 'give a pack of pasta!'

The food bank 'Well-Fed Latvia' warns - this year Rimi stores will approach customers even more often than the trainer at Liepāja Olympic Center who invites people to water aerobics. Only this time they'll ask not to exercise, but to fill food packages.

Manager Agita Kraukle explains that utility bills are growing faster than Riga building prices, so families have as little money left for food as Liepāja's tram has fuel. 'We predict a 20 percent increase in demand,' she says, which means - soon approaching Rimi customers will become a sport.

'I went to get milk today, but was immediately offered to donate pasta, canned goods and chocolate for children,' says pensioner Ausma from Graudu Street. 'I thought - well, at least it's not like in Riga, where they approach you about credit cards and mobile phones.'

Last autumn, 5,613 food packages were collected, providing meals for 15 thousand people. That's more than all Riga politicians combined, which is already an achievement. Since 2016, more than 109 thousand packages have been donated - that's as many as there are successful attempts to find a free spot by the sea in Liepāja during summer.