Every two years the fish industry puts a red ring around February in their diary: that is when their firmly established trade fair “fish international” takes place in Bremen. Alongside the well-tried mix of product presentation, discussion of current topics, and ample opportunities for building or nurturing business contacts, Germany’s only fish trade fair always has some new topics on its agenda. From Sunday 9 to Tuesday 11 February 2014 visitors will find a much larger aquaculture section, for example. The new competition for the “Best Seafood Product” is already meeting with positive response from the industry, and the “Gastro Ivent” which takes place parallel to the fish trade fair and offers creative solutions for caterers and restaurateurs is an additional new attraction.

Gastro Ivent enhances fish international with a highly select range of products from the entire food and beverage spectrum. It wants to appeal to restaurateurs and caterers who were not interested in fish on it own… a concept that is being very well accepted.

The Danish fish industry is much more strongly represented than in previous years. In addition to individual presentations from companies such as the cold water shrimp specialist Chrisfish A/S or Seawell Hirtshals A/S there will also be a joint Danish pavilion in 2014. Participants include Uhrenholt A/S who according to company information is the worldwide pioneer for shrimps with the Euro organic seal, Vilsund Blue a/s who claims to be one of the two leading mussel producers in Europe, and Kimpex A/S who is well-known for pelagic fishes and fresh fish.

Among those who have agreed to take part are fish buyers from large retail chains such as Rewe, Edeka Minden-Hannover, and familia Nordwest. Apart from that: specialist buyers from Sodexo, Servicebund, Dussmann Service, and Compass Group. And representatives from bofrost, the German Agricultural Society, and the Bremerhaven Technology Transfer Centre stand for quality management and product development.

One product is so new on the market that it is not likely to be included in the competition. The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) plans to present the first certified farmed salmon on the Monday of the fair. “At present four Norwegian companies are undergoing the certifica