The seafood calendar features many important international events and stakeholder gatherings, as you might expect from such a richly diverse and innovative industry. In terms of scale, nothing can compete with the vast Seafood Expo Global (SEG), which is held annually in Brussels, Belgium.

Pittman Seafoods has participated in this exhibition since its earliest days, and will be attending the 26^th edition of SEG, taking place alongside its sister event Seafood Processing Global on 24-26 April, 2018.

Over the last quarter of a decade, we have seen this trade event grow up around us – from 50% of a single conference hall in the first year, to more than 38,300 square metres of combined exhibition space in 2017. While considerable credit for this growth should go to the event’s organisers, it’s also widely agreed that much of its success is directly attributable to the growing popularity of seafood worldwide.

OUTREACH PLATFORM

Every year, the exposition brings thousands of industry players from every sector of the seafood industry together with new and existing suppliers from around the globe. Additionally, attendees use the three-day event to learn about emerging trends and discuss industry challenges and successes. SEG is also a must for many keen-eyed seafood buyers, representing restaurants, supermarkets, hotels, catering services, importers, distributors and more.

For us, SEG provides the ideal platform to meet face-to-face with suppliers and current and potential clients, engage with other industry players, observe incoming and outgoing trends, and to show the world the progress that we are making. As a Belgium-based company, we host many of our key customers and suppliers before and after SEG – opening the doors to our factory and our demonstration kitchen, and welcoming them with warm hospitality. For Pittman Seafoods, SEG is much more than a three-day networking opportunity – it is a core component of our annual outreach strategy.

GLOBAL INDUSTRY

Fittingly, last year’s 25th SEG set new records – becoming the largest ever event in terms of both exhibit space and attendance numbers. According to its organisers, more than 28,500 buyers and suppliers from around the world went to the event, with visitors from 150 countries. The expo itself featured the stands of 1,859 exhibiting companies from 79 countries who, like Pittman Seafoods, showcased their latest seafood products, services and equipment.

The exhibition space also incorporated 73 national and regional pavilions, including new representation from Latvia, Myanmar, Poland and Venezuela; while new exhibiting countries included Costa Rica, Cyprus and Romania. In total, SEG17 brought the seafood community from close to 80% of the countries represented in the world, which surely reflects the truly global nature of the seafood sector today. And it would be great to see more new faces this year.

So if you’re attending SEG this year and would like to hear more about our business, please drop by our stand: Hall 5, Booth 614. We would love to welcome you with a glass of Brugse Zot, an on-tap beer from our hometown of Bruges.