The Tallinn Food Fair, known in Estonian as "Toidumess," was held at the Unibet Arena September 25-26.

The event's organizer, Tiit Sarv, rejects the Strategic Management Office's assessment, however, arguing that it has always been a closed event.'

"The food fair has always been targeted solely at professionals, making it a non-public event," Sarv, who heads up the Profexpo, an events organization firm, said.

"This business-to-business type of fair, as it has always been, is designed for professionals to exchange contacts, network, and expand their business opportunities," he went on.

According to Sarv, the event is not closed to avoid the city's regulations on reusable dishes, which apply to public events. By way of an example, he mentioned the Tallinna Kohvifestival, also organized by Profexpo and is a public event. "In April this year, we offered reusable coffee cups at the event. Visitors and consumers were able to bring their own cups," Sarv said.

However, Katarina Papp, a circular economy expert at the Tallinn Strategic Management Office, said that the city still considers the food fair a public event.

She said: "While it requires invitations, those invitations can be freely distributed and are not personalized. The goal is to attract as many people as possible. It takes place in a public space, and is temporary in nature."

Sarv said that it was the exhibitors themselves who sent out the invitations, and the organizer did not interfere in this process. "Our role as the organizer is to create a broad information coverage. We provide the details of what will happen and where, but we do not dictate who should be invited."

Exhibitors sent out just under 10,000 invitations, while the fair had about 5,500 visitors in total, Sarv said.

Those who wished to attend without an invite were screened for suitability in advance, he added, noting that no tickets were sold either.

"We interviewed all those visitors who did not have an invitation. We determined whether they belonged to the target groups, and then we decided on-site if they fit the criteria or not," Sarv continued.

However, Papp said a meeting a few weeks ahead of the event involving the Strategic Management Center and the event organizers was a chance for the city to air its main concerns over understanding how the requirement for reusable containers would be met, but the talks drew a blank.

"The organizer primarily tried to explain why this wasn't a public event and so why they didn't need to comply with those requirements," Papp went on.

Sarv's version of events was that he explained the nature of the event to city officials during the meeting,. "I clarified that this is a specialized event. A fair, in the classic sense, is aimed at professional visitors," he continued.

The Strategic Management Office also sought the opinion of the Ministry of Justice, which found the food fair did constitute a public event.

Nonetheless, this need not mean the city is to start issuing fines to festival organizers.

"The city's goal is definitely not to fine anyone, but instead to reduce waste generation," Papp said.

The Strategic Management Center said it plans to contact Tallinn Food Fair organizers, to ensure that the use of reusable containers is better managed at future events

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