Seafood Connection opens US office

The Netherlands-based distributor Seafood Connection is expanding to the U.S., France, and Spain in an effort by its parent company to expand globally.

Parent company Koto, Tokyo-based Maruha Nichiro is looking to grow its sales in Europe and the U.S., instead of focusing primarily on Japan.

“Maruha Nichiro has a large group of companies mainly for sourcing seafood items for the Japanese market. This market is decreasing, due to changes in Western eating habits and a decreasing population; therefore, they are looking for growth in their overseas sales,” Klaas-Hessel van Eerde, sales director for retail and sushi at Seafood Connection, told SeafoodSource.

To that end, Seafood Connection recently opened a sales office in Madrid, Spain, and will open an office in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., U.S., in September. It also plans to open a sales office in France “soon,” van Eerde said.

“This [expansion] is for the European market but they are also looking to the U.S. market as well…in cooperation with their existing U.S.-based companies,” van Eerde said. Maruha Nichiro also owns a salmon processing operation in Alaska.

From its U.S. office, Seafood Connection is planning to serve foodservice, retail and wholesale customers, providing the top 10 most consumed seafood items in the U.S., including salmon, shrimp and tilapia. Seafood Connection will hire three or four experienced seafood sales representatives to staff its U.S. office.

It is sourcing much of its product from its office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. “We see Vietnam as an important origin. Here we have our own office and have years of experience,” van Eerde said.
 
In June, Seafood Connection opened its first office in Spain. “We have offices in Portugal, Italy and Greece, and Spain was missing as was France, where we will also open an office very soon,” van Eerde said. “We see opportunities in all European countries, of which we supply most of them. Seafood consumption is high and the products do fit in our assortment.”

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