What happened during these 2 days of exposure?

The first Canadian Seafood Show was:

Speech by the Honourable Jamie Fox, Minister of Fisheries and Communities

The presence of 2 Ministers (The Honourable Jamie Fox and The Honourable Matthew MacKay) and the Member of Parliament for Fisheries and Communities (Bod Creed)

• A 5 @7 in honour of Prince Edward Island
• Exhibitors happy to experience a different way of exhibiting
• Dozens of connections
• A first success that builds the way for many others
• 5 conférences :
  • Benefits of deepchill ice slurry technology for efficient cooling and preservation of seafood
  • Fighting for a ‘BLUE REVOLUTION’: How Ocean Wise is Rebranding Aquaculture
  • Consumers are asking : How will you help me achieve a healthy and sustainable lifestyle ?
  • Driving innovation and increasing your bottom line
  • What is the impact of genetic engineering on the seafood market

Thank you to all the speakers for sharing your passion and energy with us! Jason Huffman journalist for Undercurrent News was one of our guests, below is his article written on the first day of the Canadian Seafood Show

Sysco, Costco, Metro among major buyers at first-ever Canadian Seafood Show

The first-ever Canadian Seafood Show is off and running with only about 35 exhibitors and roughly 250 attendees, but representatives for some of North America’s largest general retailers and food service wholesalers — Sysco, Costco and Metro (a Canadian retail chain) — are present, Jenny Viotte, the conference president, tells Undercurrent News. It’s not the 200 exhibitors Viotte hoped for when she talked to Undercurrent in April about the event, but the reaction from the attendees was generally supportive and optimistic, repeatedly noting that this is the first time the conference has been organized. The exhibit hall is dominated by Canadian importers, wholesalers and processors, including the likes of Marine Hunter, a Montreal-based seafood importer, and Sogelco, a processor and exporter based in Prince Edward Island (PEI).

PEI is a major presence here, with numerous exhibits and attendees. Jamie Fox is expected to speak at the reception planned for later on Wednesday. No, not Jamie Foxx, the actor and comedian. It’s the Jamie Fox who serves as director of PEI’s minister of fisheries and communities.

As reported by Undercurrent in April, Viotte had pursued the creation of the trade show since August 2014, when she was hired to help launch the Fish & Seafood Canada (FASC). After the association failed to launch its own event and folded in early 2018, Viotte picked up the task herself and, with her own funds, began working toward the goal realized this week.

Viotte’s dealmaking-oriented approach to her event is similar to that maintained by the seafood industry’s really big annual conferences, including Seafood Expo Global, in Brussels, Belgium, in May, for one more year, and Seafood Expo North America, held in Boston, Massachusetts, every year. Those events draw more than 1,000 exhibits and tens of thousands of attendees.

Such heights have never been in Viotte’s view.

Though it’s clear she would like to have more exhibits and attendees, she was upbeat Wednesday about the “warmness and friendliness” of the event, and said she has heard from several exhibitors that they’ve had lots of fruitful interactions already. She said she has already made plans to repeat the event, Sept. 23-24, in Montreal.

Goals for the second edition:

• Have 100 exhibitors
• Develop the demand from South America that would like to be more present on Canadian territory. Peru and Chile seem particularly interested.
• Develop the machinery, packaging, packaging, packaging, labelling, etc.

Calendar for the second edition:

• November 4, 2019, start of booth bookings with Early Bird promotion
• Early 2020 implementation of competitions (innovation, new products, eco-responsible packaging, to be deter mined)
• February 1st, 2010, end of the Early Bird promotion
• From February 2nd, 2020 all bookings will be at the regular price
• On April 22, 2020 the conference calendar will be available
• From April 29, 2020 visitors will be able to book their place and register for the conferences On April 29, 2020, the theme of the first evening’s 5@7 was announced

Thank you for your confidence and we look forward to meeting you on September 15 and 16, 2020!