Sustainability and innovation at the heart of Catalan companies' participation in Seafood Expo Global 2023

From 25 to 27 April Catalonia will become the world's showcase for seafood, with Barcelona hosting for the second year Seafood Expo Global, the leading international trade fair for the fish sector. 

The Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, co-financed by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), is taking part with the Catalonia HUB, which will be the meeting point for the whole Catalan fishing chain. Over the fair's three days there will be around ten talks and cooking presentations with sustainability, governance and the sector's future as their themes. This year local produce and live cooking will also take centre stage at the Catalonia HUB, with several showcookings to showcase the culinary heritage of the Catalan coast.

This year's Seafood Expo Global features 40 Catalan companies and organisations linked to the fish and seafood sector, 20 of them under the agri-food brand "Catalonia, where fish is culture", on the stands organised by PRODECA: more than 400m² of exhibition space, aiming to support their export marketing and international positioning.

Companies taking part under the brand "Catalonia, where fish is culture":

• ACUIDELTA – Baix Ebre
• ALFRISA – Vallès Occidental
• BARRUFET CONGELADO – Barcelonès
• BARRUFET SA – Barcelona 
• BLAQUS SEAFOOD - Baix Llobregat
• COCEDERO DE MARISCOS SA – Barcelonès
• D’ELITE – Maresme
• DIAMAX FOOD - Garraf
• EASYFISH SL – Gironès
• EUROPEIX SA – Maresme
• FRIGORIFICOS UNIDOS (FRIUSA) – La Selva
• IBERDIGEST SL – Alt Empordà
• JGUTIERREZ FOOD TRADING – Vallès Occidental
• LABORATORIO DPA – Barcelonès 
• LABORATORIO FISH&TECH SLU – Baix Llobregat
• MARFISH SL – Barcelonès
• PALAMÓS FISHERIES PRODUCER ORGANISATION – Baix Empordà
• PASAPESCA – Barcelonès
• PH7 FOOD TECHONOLOGY – Baix Llobregat

Catalan companies' commercial news at Seafood Expo Global

As the world's leading seafood showcase, Seafood Expo Global is a great opportunity for the companies taking part under the brand "Catalonia, where fish is culture" to present their latest commercial and corporate news to international audiences. 

Barrufet will present at Seafood its new range of mini fish burgers. The company is expanding its range with this new alternative to traditional fish marketing, committed to a natural product philosophy with no gluten, lactose, egg or added additives.

D'Elite will show its sustainable seafood line: with more than 20 years' experience importing razor clams from the Netherlands, in recent years it has steered its strategy towards sustainability. Its goals for this fair are direct contact with hospitality players and expanding its distributor network across Spain. 

PH7 Food and Tech will introduce at the fair its new TEXFISH range, injection texturising products for fish. This innovative solution uses injection technology to improve fish's organoleptic properties — the quality, texture and flavour of loins and fillets.

For his part, Alfrisa will present its new cephalopod line, specifically octopus in trays in IQF format. Its biggest news, however, is the launch of new state-of-the-art freezing tunnels at its Bellvei plant, an investment in innovation and sustainability. 

Seafood Expo Global will also be a place to celebrate for the Catalan companies taking part under the brand "Catalonia, where fish is culture": Europeix is marking its 40th anniversary, combining fish exports with tradition, artisan work and care for seafood. 

Telling the future of Catalonia's fishing sector through sustainability and governance

On 25 April various initiatives on aquaculture and the fish value chain will be presented.

Among the conferences organised at the Catalonia HUB, the round table "Coastal trawling in Catalonia: a model in transition towards sustainability" stands out, scheduled for 26 April at 1.30pm, presenting the Catalan proposal for this type of fishing, which accounts for 60% of the fishing sector's economic activity in Catalonia. 

Also on the 26th, at 3.45pm, there is the session "Making a living from fishing: Action plan to encourage generational renewal in the capture fishing sector", devoted to presenting the results of the action plan for encouraging generational renewal in the capture fishing sector drawn up by the Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda.

Also on the fair's second day, at 5pm, there are the presentations "Diagnosis of food loss and waste in the anchovy fishing sector: quantification and economic impact" and "Opportunities for making better use of fish in Catalonia", by the Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, the Centre for Agri-food Economy and Development Research (CREDA) and the Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA) — two talks setting out ways to make better use of fishery products.

On Thursday 27 the talks will centre on the presentation of the implementation of Catalonia's Maritime Strategy across the territory, with the bids from the five Catalan Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs) covering the whole fishing territory. This will be followed by a session on participatory fisheries governance, marking five years since Catalonia published its own co-management rules for professional fishing. There will also be presentations of initiatives by Catalonia's Fisheries Producer Organisations aimed at improving the profitability of fishing.

Seafood Expo Global 2023 breaks the exhibition space record in Barcelona

The second Seafood Expo Global – Seafood Processing Global to be held in Barcelona will be the largest in the fair's history, with more than 2,000 exhibiting companies from 87 countries and 68 national and regional pavilions. The fair will reach 49,299 m2 net of exhibition space, 21% more than in 2019 (until this year the largest in the fair's history) and 24% more than last year. 

For three days Seafood Expo Global will bring together buyers, suppliers, industrial distributors and sector services from around the world to build trade relations, with a significant positive impact on the local economy: the organisers put the economic impact for Barcelona at around €150 million.