Seafood expects to celebrate its largest edition and an impact of 156 million in Barcelona

Overcoming an impact of 156 million euros, growing 4% compared to last year, and exceeding the 34,000 attendees of the previous edition. These are the forecasts for Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global, the world's leading seafood trade event, which will be held for the third consecutive year in Barcelona, after it moved in 2022 from the Belgian capital.

With this 4% growth, what will be the 30th edition of the event will be the largest in the fair's history, taking place from April 23 to 25 at Fira de Barcelona's Gran Via venue. Organized by Diversified Communications, the exhibition will specifically occupy 51,227 square meters, which will serve as an international platform for industry suppliers and buyers to exchange business relationships. The world's largest fish fair will grow again this year after in the previous edition its area increased by 21%, largely due to the return of Chinese companies and the participation of about twenty new countries.

This year's exhibition will feature more than 2,050 exhibiting companies from 84 countries, as well as 66 national and regional pavilions, including new additions such as Brazil, Ivory Coast, and Azerbaijan in the business sector, and France, South Korea, Japan, Oman, and again Brazil in the territorial pavilions. Furthermore, Chinese companies that began returning to the show in 2023 complete their "full return" in this edition, with more than 300 exhibiting companies. "It is truly a global event," said Wynter Courmont, Vice President of Seafood at Diversified Communications, at a press conference alongside the General Director of Fira de Barcelona, Constantí Serrallonga.

These 2,050 companies are currently below the more than 2,080 from last year, but the list is not closed, and organizers expect to add new exhibitors in the coming days, as Courmont explained. The General Director of Fira defended that the event and Barcelona have formed a "successful partnership with a great future." In this relationship, the city provides the event with an environment full of opportunities, according to Serrallonga, who placed Seafood in "the top 5 events hosted by Fira."

Serrallonga has placed Barcelona in another top 5: that of European cities in the field of congresses, in which the Catalan capital plays a prominent role. He assured that Fira is working on the scenario of consolidating the record turnover it reached in 2023, of 250 million euros, but he emphasized that, "beyond the number, what matters is what happens at Fira, and Seafood is a great example." He praised the event as a global gathering that brings together actors from all fields and continents, as happens in congresses such as the Mobile World Congress (MWC) and the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) and Labelexpo, which will land in Barcelona in autumn 2025.

Product innovations and their transformation

Exhibitors at Seafood Expo Global will showcase their latest innovations in fish and seafood products, ranging from fresh to frozen, including canned, processed, and packaged items. For its part, Seafood Processing Global will address all aspects related to the transformation of seafood products and services for the industry, which include equipment and supplies for refrigeration, machinery and packaging material, quality assurance services, aquaculture equipment, cold storage and transport, among many other elements required by the food industry from the sea.

The event will include the annual Seafood Excellence Global Awards, whose winners will be selected from 40 finalists from 15 countries. During the awards ceremony, visibility will also be given to the latest trends and products linked to the sea, in an edition that will feature more than 20 conference sessions led by 90 experts. Among them, Professor of International Economics Mark Blyth stands out, who will address the most significant issues that will influence the global seafood community in the short, medium, and long term. In addition, the fair will once again collaborate with the Banc dels Aliments, which will collect products from exhibitors once the event ends. In 2023, more than 50 volunteers carried out this work, which is estimated to have recovered 14,000 kilos of food.

The "success" of the move to Barcelona

Courmont has stressed that the growth the show experienced last year in the Catalan capital demonstrated the opportunities that are opening up "in the long term" in Barcelona. The city will become "an international business center around seafood products during the event," added Courmont, who highlighted the "success" that the relocation of the fair to the city has meant. The event moved from the Belgian capital due to lack of sufficient space and, after an international selection process, opted for Barcelona seeking a new fair infrastructure that would allow its growth.

And not only is the show growing, but also the infrastructure that hosts it, with the expansion of the Gran Via venue already underway. "We are committed to the expansion of Fira precisely because of clients like you," Serrallonga told Courmont. The general director of Fira recalled that the expansion will culminate in 2026, and guaranteed the Seafood representative: "In 2027 you will be able to use the new pavilion."