When asked to name the person he most wanted to walk into his booth at Seafood Expo Global this year, Froxá export manager Constantino Ruiz Matanzas had two answers.
“The first person I would like to meet a very nice and open retail purchaser interested in developing 15 products with me,” Ruiz Matanzas said of the first. “And the second is the pope.”
Kidding aside, Ruiz Matanzas said his company’s presence at Seafood Expo Global is an important opportunity to introduce itself to both suppliers and purchasers. Froxá, based in Santiago de Cartes, Spain, is an importer and value-added company with an international presence and 40 years in the business. The company has about 120 employees and EUR 35 million (USD 39.7 million) in annual turnover.
Froxá exhibited as part of the Spanish pavilion at SEG this year, though in the past the company has also been part of the Cantabria regional pavilion and has exhibited on its own. Ruiz Matanzas said the company likes to mix it up so attendees are always seeing something new from it.
When interviewed on Thursday, 28 April, the last day of SEG, Ruiz Matanzas said about 65 percent of his meetings were sourcing- and import-related, while 35 percent were related to exports. He said he won’t know how well he’s done at the show until he sees how follow-ups go with potential business partners, but given the quality of his conversations, overall he was optimistic.
“Developing new markets is a must for us, it’s not just a wish,” he said. “We need every year to develop new products in order to keep momentum. It’s like riding a bicycle up a mountain: if you don’t keep pushing, you go backwards.”
