The Red Jackets presents the final book in the “Treasures of Latvia” trilogy about outstanding Latvian exporters in grand style

At the end of last week, the Radisson Blu Latvija hotel hosted the presentation of the book “Treasures of Latvia — Outstanding Export Brands and Inspiring places”, published by the export support movement The Red Jackets. The new book brings together stories about 30 of the most promising Latvian entrepreneurs — recipients of the titles “The Red Jackets” and “Rising Stars” — and is the third and final edition in the book series, which focuses on various beautiful and remarkable places in Latvia. The ceremonial launch event was attended by entrepreneurs, friends, partners and supporters of the movement, as well as national officials and media representatives, who gathered on the eve of the national holiday to honour those outstanding Latvian exporters who are taking Latvia’s name to the world.

The introductory part of the presentation featured inspiring speeches by the initiators of The Red Jackets movement, Andris Rubīns, partner at the DDB agency, Inese Andersone, founder of Gateway&Partners, and project manager Līva Stūrmane, Uldis Zariņš, Deputy State Secretary for Cultural Policy at the Ministry of Culture, Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kerli Gabriloviča, head of Luminor bank in Latvia, Mārtiņš Zemītis, economist at the European Commission Representation in Latvia, Roberts Dlohi, board member of Peruza, and the head of Mintos, Mārtiņš Šulte, as well as the author of the text for the book “Treasures of Latvia” — the talented British journalist Mike Collier. Following the formal speeches, the evening continued with the informal part of the event, during which guests enjoyed select snacks, sparkling drinks and musical performances while discovering the new book and engaging in relaxed conversation.

Since the founding of The Red Jackets movement, three “Treasures of Latvia” books have been published, with the aim of creating and compiling an inspiring story about Latvia and its outstanding exporters, who have successfully proven themselves not only in Latvia but also abroad. The latest book features companies from a wide range of industries — from logistics, finance and human resources software, printing services, educational institutions and food production to IT services, construction, furniture manufacturing and fashion products. They include D8 Corporation, EKJU, ELKO Group, Krassky, Kreiss, Latraps, Latvijas piens, LG Optics, Nordtext, Peruza, Pharmidea, Printful, Skonto Prefab, Tenapors, TestDevLab, TROLL, Biznesa Augstskola Turība, TWINO, Latvijas Universitāte, X Infotech, Anatomy Next, Art Fairs Service, CakeHR, Edurio, Ette Tete, Mintos, Nordigen, One Wolf, PlayGeneering Systems and Sonarworks.

Over the course of eight active months, the book’s author, Mike Collier, visited all 30 outstanding exporters, creating each story in a Latvian city or populated place that was special to the company and complementing it with picturesque landscape photographs. Every story included in the book was written in the style of a documentary diary, including the date of the conversation, the weather conditions, coordinates and the author’s impressions. Many of the companies can already boast international success, while others are only at the beginning of their journey; nevertheless, they are all united by great perseverance, faith in themselves and a clear vision of what lies at the heart of a successful Latvian brand.

“Latvia is only as large as our ambitions and as boldly as we are able to realise them. We simply need to start doing things and encourage one another a little. While the final “Treasures of Latvia” book was being created, Mike Collier came to us with the idea that this would not be just another corporate book; its stories would be genuine, personal and very human. Although initially we were not entirely sure about this concept, today we can truly be proud that we have managed to find the golden mean between an informative business book and a captivating collection of inspirational stories with which to carry Latvia far beyond its borders,” comments The Red Jackets founder Andris Rubīns.

The Red Jackets is a movement supporting Latvian exporting companies. Its aim is to create a unified, compelling and globally understandable story about Latvia as a country of origin, highlighting its values, strengths and distinctive features, as well as encouraging every entrepreneur not to rest on their achievements and to think globally. Since 2013, in honour of Latvia’s centenary, the movement has compiled a list of 100 outstanding export brands and published three “Treasures of Latvia” books. Seventy Latvian companies have received the title of Latvia’s best export brands, “The Red Jackets”, while 30 companies have received the title “The Rising Stars”, awarded to emerging export stars. The previous two books in the “Treasures of Latvia” series were published in 2014 and 2016, respectively, complementing one another.

The book “Treasures of Latvia — Outstanding Export Brands and Inspiring Talents” has been published in English and, from 22 November, will be available at “Jānis Roze” bookshops throughout Latvia. The book’s design was created by Jānis Birznieks and Karīna Papanova, and the photographer was Māris Ločmelis. The movement and the creation of the book were supported by Luminor, the European Commission Representation in Latvia, BDO Law, Eco Baltia, ALTUM, Gateway&Partners, as well as the companies Antalis, Mintos, Peruza, Krassky, Skonto Prefab and Nordtext. Information about Latvia’s leading export companies has been compiled on the website http://www.treasuresoflatvia.com/.