The world’s largest seafood event, which will return to Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via venue from 25 to 27 April 2023, has already confirmed the participation of 80 exhibiting countries.
Diversified Communications, organizer of Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global, announced that the 29th edition of the event, taking place 25-27 April 2023 in Barcelona, Spain, is, to this date, larger than any of the previous editions of this global trade event. With a couple months to go until the 2023 edition, the Expo already covers more than 49,000 net square meters of exhibit space, which is 20% more than in 2019, the largest edition of the Expo held to date, and 23% larger than its first edition held in Barcelona last year.
“We are excited to see the industry’s growing interest in taking part in our global event, and this year’s edition promises to be the largest one ever,” said Liz Plizga, Group Vice President at Diversified Communications. “The growth of the event is mostly attributed to an increase in number of new participating companies and to exhibiting companies and pavilions returning with larger stand spaces.”
Increasing international participation
To date, exhibitors from 80 countries have confirmed their presence at Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global. New exhibiting countries that were not represented in 2022 include Austria, Barbados, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Gambia, Moldova, New Caledonia, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, Serbia and Seychelles. The 2023 edition will welcome over 600 new exhibiting companies, including Atunes y Lomos, Blumar, Golden Fish Sarl, Grøntvedt Group, North Pacific Seafood Pte Ltd, Pereira Productos del Mar and Pickenpack Seafoods GmbH for Seafood Expo Global, and Activa Food Tech SAU, Aquatiq AS, Lineage Logistics and Van de Velde Packaging Group for Seafood Processing Global.
The event will host a total of 66 regional and country pavilions, including three new country pavilions from Australia, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles and regional pavilions from Japan, Republic of Korea, Taiwan, United States and the return of the Galician region of Spain. Returning pavilions with significant change in size include China, Spanish regions of Catalan and Galicia, Portugal and Netherlands for Seafood Expo Global and Norway for Seafood Processing Global.
This year’s edition will feature an expanded Seafood Processing Global hall with an increase of more than 20 percent in square meters of exhibit space compared to 2022. Seafood Expo Processing focuses on all aspects of seafood processing including packaging materials and machinery, refrigeration and freezing equipment and supplies, systems for primary and secondary processing, hygiene control and sanitation and quality assurance services.
The 2023 edition will take place in halls 2, 3, 4, 5 and the Gallery between halls 4 and 5 of Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via exhibition center with Seafood Processing Global occupying half of hall 3. The growth in exhibit space indicates that this will be the largest Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global in the event’s history and reinforces the event’s position as the most important and diverse seafood Expo in the world. The first edition in Barcelona in 2022 brought the seafood industry back together in-person with 26,703 industry professionals from all over the world in attendance and 1,556 exhibiting companies from 77 countries occupying 39,847 square meters of sold exhibit space.
According to Plizga, the Expo “reaffirms itself as the world’s leading seafood trade event and provides the industry’s global key stakeholders the platform needed to discuss strategy, innovate and find solutions for their business.”
The world’s largest seafood Expo
Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global brings together the key players (suppliers, buyers, authorities, distributors, industrials and services) in the seafood sector from around the world. At Seafood Expo Global, exhibitors present the latest seafood products – fresh, frozen, canned, value-added, processed and packaged – to seafood buyers from around the world, including supermarkets, restaurants, hotels, caterers, importers, distributors, seafood markets and other retail and foodservice companies. Seafood Processing Global provides buyers with every aspect of seafood processing, including packaging materials and machinery, chilling and freezing equipment, primary and secondary processing systems, hygiene control and sanitation and quality assurance services.
