London Seafood Expo 2010
London Seafood Expo 2010 – the premier seafood show in UK, scheduled to be held at Earls Court, Brompton Hall, London from 2-4 February, is tipped to be a promising event for seafood industry professionals around the globe, looking for import/export opportunities, renewing old contacts and also make new contacts.
UK has been a net importer of seafood in both volume and value terms. In 2008, it imported 780 600 mt of seafood worth £2.2 billion while it exported some 415 000 mt worth £1.0 billion.
The ten most common species found in the UK retail markets are salmon, tuna, cod, haddock, warm water prawns, cold water prawns, mackerel, Pollock, scampi and trout reflecting their traditional taste, but only four of them (salmon, haddock, mackerel and scampi) are produced in any great volume in the UK. Cod, haddock and other white fish are imported from Iceland and the Faroe Islands, salmon from Norway and USA, cold water prawns from Denmark, tuna from Mauritius and warm water prawns from Thailand. China plays an important role as the destination of choice for bulk primary processing (eg transforming whole fish into fillets), which is then re-shipped back to the UK or Europe either for secondary processing or onward sale.
In 2008 the Netherlands, France, Russia, Spain and the Irish Republic were the main export markets for the UK which together accounted for 65% of the seafood exports with the Netherlands and the Irish Republic going for mixed species for processing, while mackerel was destined mainly for the Russian market.
The high value shellfish species caught in the UK like nephrops, scallops and crabs fetch better prices in the European markets and so are exported to countries like Spain, France and Italy.
Over the last three years a number of new species have entered the UK retail markets. The most notable is basa, also known as pangasius, a species of catfish farmed mainly in Vietnam. Since its introduction into the UK market in 2007 sales has shot-up to £5.6 million.
Pollock is another species popular in the retail markets. It is not strictly a new species, but was previously labeled as white fish. It has become more popular over the last few years as manufacturers started marketing it as Pollock. A prime example of this is the Birds Eye Omega 3 fish fingers, which is produced using Alaska Pollock. As the popularity of Pollock increased, 32 000 mt of Pollock were imported into the UK in 2008, an increase of nearly 500% over the previous year.
While the global financial meltdown continues, sales of basa and Pollock are expected to continue growing as shoppers are bound to switch to these cheaper alternative species compared to cod and haddock.
On the retail market, prices have increased by 14% against the same period last year. In contrast, volumes are down 6%. This is largely due to the fall in sterling against the dollar and the euro, which has pushed seafood prices up. Canned tuna makes up the bulk of the ambient market accounting for 67% of the market by volume. Tuna was retailing for £3.10/ kg a year ago but now the price has risen to £3.99/kg. As tuna is sourced from countries such as Mauritius and the Seychelles it is traded in US dollars and the cost of importing ambient tuna into the UK has increased 30% which is passed down the supply chain to the consumer, resulting in few people buying the product.
Despite fluctuation in exchange rates, global economic slowdown and other factors, there are still opportunities for seafood importers, exporters, distributors and others.
London Seafood Expo 2010, is one event to look forward for new, attractive opportunities.
Do not miss the London Seafood Expo 2010, officially supported by Seafish, the Seafood Industry Authority, UK.
It is the premier destination for Seafood Industry Professionals keen on improving export sales or searching for new suppliers, as this event will offer a fabulous opportunity to access the rapidly expanding seafood markets in the UK as well as Europe as a whole.