From the show floor: Lobsters, abalone, royal oysters

The distinct sound of packing tape being applied to Styrofoam boxes marks the end of the Asian Seafood Exposition held at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre. It seems like just yesterday the tape was being removed from the packing boxes as the show seemingly was built overnight and the seafood displayed with care to a steady crowd of Asian buyers.

The week has been very productive, albeit very different from other show experiences. I had more time here than at other shows to scope the floor for products and meet new people. While there was a great variety of products, a recurring one that attracted attention on the show floor was lobster — from Florida, Maine and Western Australia — no matter the source, Asian buyers were interested. Justin Timineri, executive chef and culinary ambassador for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, grilled a lobster tail and served it with dragon fruit and mango.

While I am familiar with lobster, abalone is a product that I had not tried before. I learned about two different types of abalone, wild product from Tasmanian Seafoods in Australia, the other farmed in France by Abalone Bretagne.

I also received an education on sea cucumber production from the Pacific Sea Cucumber Harvesters of British Columbia, Canada. The product is in high demand in China where there is a steady list of buyers.

Raspberry Point Oysters of Prince Edward Island Oyster Co., Prince Edward Island, Canada, was part of the show’s New Product Showcase. Aside from serving the high-demand oysters to show attendees, the company is getting a lot of marketing traction from a picture of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Prince William and Kate slurped some of the company’s oysters while on their trip to Canada last year. Many buyers stopped at the New Product Showcase
first prior to heading out on the show floor.

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