Bord Bia and 19 Irish seafood companies took park in the world’s largest seafood trade fair, Seafood Expo Global (SEG) in Brussels on the 26th-28th of April. SEG attracts over 25,000 buyers from over 140 countries and features the stands of over 1700 exhibitors. The Irish exhibitors represented the full spectrum of species available from Ireland including shellfish, whitefish, pelagic and finfish in a range of formats including live, chilled, canned, frozen and smoked.
Three of the Irish exhibitors used the show to launch new products to their targeted global trade audience. Green Isle Foods launched Donegal Catch “Creations”, a new range of individually wrapped fillets in a microwaveable pouch. Keohane Seafoods launched their range of healthy, ready meals for children using an innovative steam cooking methodology and Dublin’s Rockabill Seafood launched three new products; live blue lobster, live brown crab and cooked frozen brown crab.
An edition of Irish Food which featured the Irish seafood sector and profiled a number of the Irish companies The magasine was widely circulated to leading seafood buyers in all key export markets prior to the show and will also widely distributed during SEG.
In 2015, Irish seafood was exported to over 70 markets worldwide, with a total value of €570 million, an increase of 77% since 2009. While the EU, namely France, Spain, UK, Italy and Germany, continues to be Ireland’s key export destination, accounting for over 55% of total exports, over 20% of seafood exports are now destined for African countries. Prospects for export growth in 2016 remain broadly positive with companies focusing their new market development efforts in Asia and the United States.
For more information please contact Karen.Tyner@BordBia.ie
Karen Tyner, Senior Manager – Food & Beverage Division, Bord Bia – Irish Food Board
Article Date: 06/05/2016