USDA trade mission to Southeast Asia showcasing Alaska pollock

As part of a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-sponsored trade mission to Southeastern Asia, Alaska pollock will be showcased in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Singapore this week.

The Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) Chief Executive Craig Morris, USDA Under-Secretary for Trade Alexis Taylor, and other commodity marketing association leaders “will work to explore new opportunities for wild Alaska pollock in these critical Southeast Asian markets and forge relationships, generating new demand with buyers in the region,” GAPP said in a press release.

The trade mission started on 30 October in Kuala Lumpur. Delegates participated in a roundtable discussion with Taylor, toured a traditional wet market, and hosted a buyer reception for key export contacts in the country. 

In Singapore, delegates will visit the Agri-Tech Food Expo Asia and participate in the U.S.-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Business Council Roundtable this week. The trip runs through 3 November.

“Continuing to identify new international markets and opportunities for wild Alaska pollock in all its forms continues to be a goal for GAPP that our board believes in,” Morris said. 

Morris said that the trade mission will benefit GAPP by giving it a chance to learn more about what it can do for its members to build demand in Southeast Asia.

"Especially Malaysia, which we’ve previously identified as a core target market with immense opportunity for our fish," he said.

Malaysia was identified in a GAPP study as a “very favorable” market for Alaska pollock. The study found that Malaysia has “avid fish eaters, an increasing demand for imported fish, [and] a growing population that is mostly urban and a large middle/upper class,” – all factors which ranked it more favorably compared to 20 export markets ranked in the study.  Malaysia also had the highest per-capita seafood consumption among countries in the study, the study found.

Singapore is also an important logistical hub, the USDA said, noting U.S. agricultural exports to Singapore surged 190 percent from 2012 to 2022, reaching a record USD 1.4 billion (EUR 1.3 billion) in 2022.

“Small and highly urbanized, Singapore depends on food imports from a wide variety of suppliers. Singapore classifies as a high-income country, providing a sophisticated market for many U.S. consumer-oriented products,” the USDA said.

Photo courtesy of GAPP