Live lobster wholesaler Maine Coast has confirmed its plans to attend this year’s Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global event taking place 26 to 28 April in Brussels, Belgium.
The U.S.-based company came to its decision after a period of careful consideration, said Maine Coast founder and CEO Tom Adams in a prepared statement.
"While we understand and appreciate the safety concerns, after talking with my team and considering our options, we've all decided to forge ahead with our plans to attend the Brussels show. This is an important show for us and an important year for our company as we expand our operations to the Boston Fish Pier," said Adams. "Our European customers play a critical role in our business activity. Providing world-class service and high quality, lively lobster to those customers is essential. As a result, we could never consider backing out of the Brussels show."
The company recently announced its intention to develop a new facility in Boston as a means to offer its customers additional services and a rapid-ship option for last minute orders via Boston Logan airport. Maine Coast is looking forward to discussing these developing business services and the company’s growth with its European customers at the expo, Adams said.
“We are excited about the activity and growth within our company. We want to share that information with existing and potential customers. This business does not and cannot simply exist on phone calls and email exchanges alone. The face-to-face interaction in this industry is absolutely necessary and the trade shows will always remain one of the best ways of maintaining and building relationships," he said.
After generating USD 40 million (EUR 35 million) in sales revenue in 2015, Maine Coast received the U.S. Small Business Administration's Small Business Exporter of the Year Award for Maine. The company is set to grow revenues for 2016 with European trade expected to play a big part.
