Seafood Scotland makes impact at Seafood Expo North America

With a large investment in its presentation at Seafood Expo North America, Seafood Scotland believes it made an impression that will result in increased exposure and sales.

Clare MacDougall, the trade marketing manager for Seafood Scotland, said her organization brought celebrity chef Mark Greenaway as well as four Scottish fishers with them to the show in Boston 6 to 8 March, and hosted a four-course meal for invited guests catered by Greenaway and featuring premium Scottish seafood.

“We really wanted to make a bit more of an impact,” MacDougall said. “Mark (Greenaway) is a big advocate of Scottish seafood and he really helped us showcase the quality and diversity of what we produce.”

Seafood Scotland’s dinner the evening of Monday, 7 March included Scottish langoustine, mackerel, haddock and salmon. MacDougall said she heard guests saying they weren’t aware Scotland offered such diverse products for export.

“People aren’t as aware that we export whitefish, mackerel, herring, shellfish, crab and langoustine,” MacDougall said. “But with Mark doing the dishes here, people have just been amazed. They’ve never tasted this stuff before. They’re asking, ‘Where did this stuff come from?’”

A total of 15 Scottish seafood companies had a presence at SENA 2016, including Loch Etive by R.R. Spink, a producer of smoked trout and salmon. The company annually produces about 3,000 tons of fish annually at its farm on the west coast of Scotland, worth about USD 5 million (EUR 4.49 million).

“We just started exporting to the U.S. two or three years ago, mostly to high-end food service and some retail, and we are here because we’d like to do more,” said David Rae, the company’s head of international sales.

Loch Etive and the rest of the companies affiliated with Seafood Scotland are now working with Scottish Development International to open up additional opportunities in the U.S., MacDougall said.

“The United States an incredibly huge country with diverse culinary interests, and we think we have some special products on the market that can do really well here,” she said.