View of the interior of the Expo in this year's edition.
Photo: Seafood Expo Global /Seafood Processing Global / Diversified.
After three days of intense activity, Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global closed its 31st edition yesterday. For the fourth consecutive year, Barcelona became the meeting point that brought together over 35,000 seafood industry professionals from all over the world.
"The exhibition has been full of energy over the past three days, cementing itself as a truly international meeting point for the global seafood industry to achieve its annual business objectives," said Wynter Courmont, Vice President of Seafood at Diversified, the organizing company.
As reported on the opening day by WeAreAqueaculture, this year, what its organizers define as "the world's largest and most diverse seafood trade event," has brought together 2,187 exhibiting companies from 87 countries and 68 national and regional pavilions in more than 51,217 square meters of exhibition space.
The event, which once again took place at Fira de Barcelona's Gran Vía venue, has had an estimated economic impact on the city of more than EUR 156 million.
As in previous editions, this year exhibitors at Seafood Expo Global also presented the latest innovations in fresh, frozen, canned, canned, value-added, processed, and packaged seafood products.
"Exhibitors and visitors use this global platform to strengthen relationships with existing customers, connect with new prospects, build strategic alliances, and stay informed on the latest industry developments," Wynter Courmont explained.
The representative of one of those exhibiting companies, Mohamed Ameen Sait, Managing Director of Sea Pride LLC from Oman, confirmed it. "We are getting great visibility at this show and, at the same time, we can meet with many new and existing customers. We also see product development from all over the world, which serves as a showcase for us to understand what is happening in the fisheries," he said.
"We receive many inquiries and new customers, and we also have access to information and products from many countries. We are taking our product to other parts of the world, and we are looking forward to maintaining and improving our processing lines," Sait added.
Packaging materials and machinery, refrigeration and freezing equipment and supplies, primary and secondary processing equipment, hygiene control, sanitation, and quality assurance services, this year's Seafood Processing Global exhibitors represented all aspects of seafood processing.
"There is no other way to access seafood suppliers from around the world in one place...everyone we want to reach is here at Seafood Expo Global," said Andrew Lively, CEO of Ocean Perfect, a live seafood logistics company.
"I've been coming to Seafood Expo Global for more than 14 years, and every year there are new things to see, new people to meet, and new things to learn. The people we are most interested in showing our system to are here," he added.
In this 31st edition, Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global has added new participating countries and regions, including Albania, Egypt, Georgia, Greenland, Malta, Nigeria and Reunion, with new pavilions from the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil), the Japan Federation of Soy Sauce Manufacturers Cooperatives, Pro Ecuador, the Sri Lanka Export Development Board, the Agricultural and Fisheries Management Agency of Andalusia, and the Valencian Institute of Business Competitiveness (IVACE), the latter two from Spain.
All of them have had access to high-volume buyers from the retail, foodservice, and distribution sectors who have participated in this year's Key Buyer program. Some of the companies included are as well-known as Aldi, Costco, Lidl, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury's, RCD Hotels & Resorts, Iberostar, or Ikea, among many others.
In addition, as every year, the Seafood Excellence Global Awards were also presented to the best products represented at the Expo. Selected from 40 finalists representing 15 countries, in this edition, Lithuania's Vičiūnai Group and Finland's Kalaneuvos have taken top prizes.
In an edition marked by the threat of a trade war as a result of U.S. tariffs, the conference program, which included more than 20 informative sessions led by more than 80 international industry experts, culminated yesterday with a lecture by Economist and Columbia University professor, Xavier Sala-i-Martín, who highlighted the main trends facing the global economy and their implications for strategic commodity sectors.
After the closing, for one more year, Seafood Expo Global has collaborated with the Banc dels Aliments de Barcelona (Barcelona's Food Bank) in collecting donations of seafood products among the exhibitors. Thus, the Expo closed its doors until one year from now, when the Gran Vía venue of Fira de Barcelona will once again host the global seafood industry from April 21 to 23, 2026.
