Italy brought some of its shellfish specialties to Seafood Expo Global 2025, held 6 through 8 May in Barcelona Spain, as part of the nation's expansive pavilion at the event.
Western Mediterranean island Sardinia was represented by the Il Faro Moromar Cooperative out of the Gulf of Olbia on the east coast of the island, where a number of growers work together to produce high salinity oysters. According to Manuela Moro, whose family has fished shellfish in the area for a century, the Gulf of Olbia has long been known for its prized mussels, and that mussel growers there started producing oysters about a decade ago.
Sardinian oysters are quite different than other Italian oysters, acording to Moro.
“Mostly, the oysters in Italy are made in lagoons; not many are made in the sea like we do. So they taste completely different," she said, noting that their oysters have an “explosion of sweetness and citrus.”
Though still relatively small, the Sardinian aquaculture sector is growing fast.
“We don’t have a big culture of aquaculture in Sardinia,” said Moro. “I don’t know why – we are an island. It’s weird, but that’s the truth.”
The aquaculture sector is improving, however. Moro said Moromar produces 50 to 60 tons of oysters a year in the Gulf of Obia, which primarily go to restaurants in Sardinia or are sold through Milan-based distributor Oyster Oasis, who services dining and retail throughout the Italian mainland.
“You taste the sea,” Moro said of the cooperative’s oysters.
Northern Italy’s shellfish offerings were also represented. Emilia-Romagna-based clam company Vongola Selvaggia brought its pasteurized, cooked, frozen, and raw clams to SEG, as well as the clam juice it sells throughout the country.
On LinkedIn, company co-founder Lorenzo Bernadi said that he aims to “innovate tradition” by offering a convenient version of a traditional Italian product: shelled and unshelled clams.
Bernadi, a fourth generation fisherman who fishes the coast of Riminiwho, founded the company with his brother Luca and his family’s two boats. Now, Vongola Selvaggia is a startup which processes clams with machines the brothers created themselves. The machines soak the clams in seawater to remove sand, then pasteurize them with or without their shells, giving consumers maximum choice and control over how they use the product. Due to the saltwater content of the clams, consumers can cut the frozen clams and add them to the pot without defrosting, Bernardi added.
The result is a bulk frozen product that can be used whenever they are needed, but preserve the quality of the famous coastal city’s clams.
