Expo blog: Day 2

17 March

4 p.m.: Deborah Pratt is the first women to win the annual oyster shucking competition

2 p.m.: Mike Richard, Santander Bank’s new VP of seafood industry banking, told SeafoodSource the climate for consolidation in the seafood industry is clear.

Richard said the past few years during the financial crisis it’s been about maintain but now that things are starting to recover it will be about growth.

“It’s something people have been talking about for a long time, we’ve seen more activity in the last couple of years,” Richard said, adding that customers are placing more demands on companies for different types of services. “Customers will force consolidation.”

1 p.m.: With only 2 percent of its seafood exports destined for the U.S., Morocco is aiming to double that number by 2020.

“American consumers import a lot of fishery products,” Nadia Rhaouti, sectorial manager for the Moroccan Center for Export Promotion, told SeafoodSource. “There’s a lot of opportunity for us.”

The country’s pavilion has doubled in exhibit size at the expo compared to last year, with 13 companies represented.

12:45 p.m.: Matlaw’s introduced new seafood products and flavor combinations, a new website and a new branding campaign.

“We go to the extreme all over the world to find the freshest seafood products, and have strengthened and modernized our brand to communicate that clearly on shelf,” said Nancy Peterson, VP of marketing at National Fish & Seafood. “With this launch we invite the world to discover our new products, flavors and vibrant new look that illustrate what Matlaw’s stands for — products that exceed expectations for retailers and flavors that delight the palates of today’s demanding consumers.”

11 a.m.: Melanie Agopian, senior director of sustainability for Loblaw, said that since announcing its sustainable seafood goal in 2009 the Canadaian retailers now offers 135 ASC-certified products and has achieved Chain of Custody certifcation for four of its warehouses and 200 stores.

"Instead of delisting products, we encourage change and improcement projects," said Agopian. She added that in addition to the current fresh and frozen tilapia products, salmon will join the company's ASC-certified product offerings in the next few months.

10:30 a.m.: At the Aquaculture Stewardship Council annual update Esther Luiten, commercial marketing manager, announced the ASC now has 955 certified products from 36 countries produced by 75 farms in 10 countries. Those include 44 pangasius farms, 26 tilapia farms, five Norway salmon farms and four tilapia farms currently in assessment
“Farmed shrimp is the standard that everyone is waiting for," said Luiten, adding that the standard will be launched this year. "We are really looking forward to working with shrimp producers in 2014."
Luiten also said standards for farmed cobia will be released in the next few months.

9:30 a.m.: The Global Aquaculture Alliance announced it is establishing a Zone Management Technical Committee to initiate the process of drafting Best Aquaculture Practices standards for zone management.

Peter Marshall, founder and former CEO of Global Trust Certification, will chair the committee.

9:20 a.m.: Seafood Expo North America producer Diversified Communications announced that through its collaboration with SeaWeb, the SeaWeb Seafood Summit will take place 9 to 11 February in New Orleans.

8:45 a.m.: At its annual update at the expo, the Marine Stewardship Council announced that the 2016 Olympics in Rio will serve only MSC-certified seafood.

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