The 16th annual International Frozen Seafood Exhibition Conxemar showed the seafood industry is recovering from the economic downturn that has plagued it and other industries for years.
“The economic activity is reviving and there is more optimism among the consumers,” Conxemar organizers said in a statement.
Based on the turnout at the 6 to 8 October exhibition, the frozen seafood sector is more alive than ever: 22,219 visitors from 94 countries; more exhibitors in comparison with the previous edition; achieving a number of 512 exhibitors from 40 countries around the world that covered all the exhibition space (33,000 square meters); and it was also the first time that countries like the United Kingdom, Morocco, Nicaragua and Chile have had a pavilion in the show.
Galician and international companies settled the corridors of Conxemar, and some of them took advantage of the show to make business contacts, and to present their new products.
For example, Cabomar, which generated a great expectation with the “octopus chorizo,” a seafood sausage it launched at the show. Plenty of curious people and media filled its stand for the entire three days of the show. New products were driven by the need for innovation and making access to and the consumption of seafood products easier.
The Minister of Agriculture, Food and Environment of Spain, Isabel García Tejerina, visited the show. In the opening ceremony, she underlined the professional excellence of Conxemar.
“It is the best showcase for knowing the quality of our products, to launch the latest developments in technology, services and machinery, and for starting commercial relationships,” she said. She also called the show “a must for the processing and commercialization sector.”
The head of the Rural Environment and Sea of the Galician Government, Rosa Quintana, also visited the show with the delegate of the government, Samuel Juárez; Secretary General of Fisheries Andrés Hermida; and the Assistant Director-General of Fisheries and Aquaculture Department of the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Árni M. Mathiesen.
The cooperation between Conxemar and FAO is close, as it was confirmed with the joint organization for third consecutive time of the World Congress, in this edition about shrimp. The World Shrimp Congress was held in Vigo a day before the show and more than 350 people from 24 countries attended.
Furthermore, in this congress it was announced that the FAO chose Vigo to celebrate next year the 20th anniversary of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, in the frame of the International Forum of Fisheries Stakeholders.
