The Global Shrimp Council (GSC) is preparing for its first in-person event at Los Angeles’s Venice Beach, where a “happy protein” branded airstream food truck will serve free shrimp to an expected crowd of 3,000 people during a four day event running from 6 to 8 August.
The producer-led pre-competitive marketing body has been working on its “happy protein” campaign since its unveiling at Seafood Expo North America in 2025. Since then, GSC marketing attempts have largely focused on branding shrimp as a healthy protein through a variety of social media campaigns.
GSC Co-Founder Gabriel Luna told SeafoodSource that the first-of-its-kind food truck event will “excite those [GSC members] who want something tangible, who want something you can see.”
Luna said that the event would feature “free shrimp all day long, different preparations, some of them from different parts of the world, tacos, ceviches ... [and] skewers,” among other recipes.
“I’m hoping to have a po’ boy,” he added.
The four day event, which Luna said is designed to feel like a shrimp festival, will emphasize the value of shrimp as a protein to consume after healthy activity and feature a program of yoga, pickleball, and other healthy activities. The event will also feature a wide variety of health-themed merchandise which sponsoring companies can brand with their logos, including water bottles, weights, pickle ball paddles, and yoga mats.
It will also feature appearances by the GSC’s mascot, Happy the Shrimp.
“I see it like a festival,” said Luna. “We’re hoping that this event gives us the experience to evolve it into something replicable in other parts of the U.S. and other parts of the world.”
Beyond creating an in-person marketing opportunity for GSC members who participate in different sponsorship tiers, the event is rooted in the GSC’s wide-ranging social media strategy.
The GSC team is currently sending influencers “happy protein” packages to prepare them for the event, and Luna said that he hoped the event itself would serve as a “stage for multiple video shootings, for instagrammers who are going to be promoting shrimp throughout the year.”
Luna said he wants to give influencers the tools they need to generate as much content as possible from one event. The location and timing were chosen carefully to align with the GSC’s goals around both branding and social media strategy.
“The idea is the reach of this. Once you have a truck, local news [is] going to reach out. They’re going to want to know what’s happening," he said. “It’s a big event, it’s a beautiful place, it’s a famous place, it’s summer, [and] it’s August."
Luna said that he is proud of the fact that his organization has ignited other shrimp companies, even those who aren’t members of the council, to engage more enthusiastically and creatively in marketing efforts.
“I think the coolest part of this is that the Global Shrimp Council’s efforts have started mirror effects," he said.
Luna said that as a pre-competitive organization, the GSC sees all marketing efforts by the shrimp sector as positive, even if they aren’t hosting them.
“Before the council there was nobody doing anything on this, and now there are many people with many different efforts promoting shrimp. You can see it on LinkedIn, there are great companies doing their own thing, and it’s really cool, really educational. If people are out there promoting shrimp, that’s satisfactory,” Luna said. “I think we have accomplished something that puts a smile on our face and the food truck will be the cherry on top. Hopefully we can repeat food trucks every year and keep the idea going.”
