World Shrimp Forum: New Annual Senior Leaders Meeting and Conference Announce First Meeting
Netherlands / Utrecht – The very first World Shrimp Forum will take place September 6-8, 2022 in Utrecht, the Netherlands, it has been announced. The Forum is the premier annual conference and business meeting dedicated to the warm water shrimp industry, aimed at driving the shrimp industry towards a resilient and sustainable future.
Global production of warm-water shrimp has doubled in the past 10 years, and over the next 30 years the demand for seafood is expected to increase further. The global trade in farmed shrimp will continue to expand, linking producing countries to consumers in many markets around the world. But this $20 billion a year industry doesn’t have its own meeting place where all the different companies and stakeholders can connect.
The Global Shrimp Forum will cover relevant and pressing business topics such as:
- Production and market prospects
- innovation and technologies that are transforming shrimp production, supply chains and markets
- legal and regulatory challenges
- new and upcoming producers and niche products
- financing and investment.
But above all, the Global Shrimp Forum will become the largest single meeting place for senior executives in the shrimp industry, bringing together more than 400 leading players from across the supply chain.
The Global Shrimp Forum is launched by an independent, not-for-profit foundation created by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), Shrimp Insights and Contango. The goal of the Global Shrimp Forum Foundation (GSFF) is to establish a global platform for knowledge sharing, innovation and collaboration across the industry value chain to foster a sustainable future for the industry. ‘industry. Besides ASC, Shrimp Insights and Contango, Johan Brouwer – former executive at Mowi and Seafood Connection and now working for Veramaris – also sits on the board of the Global Shrimp Forum Foundation.
Willem van der Pijl, owner of Shrimp Insights and founder, board member and managing director of the Global Shrimp Forum, said: “The shrimp industry is fragmented. It consists of hundreds of thousands of farmers, thousands of importers and exporters, and many other businesses that support the industry with ingredients, technologies, services, finance, and investments.
“This high level of fragmentation makes it difficult to convene a meeting where all these stakeholders feel represented, which is why the Global Shrimp Forum is such an important initiative.
“There is a great need to establish a dedicated platform for all those who want to participate in a dialogue not only on the challenges facing the shrimp industry, but also on potential solutions. I consider it my personal mission to make this initiative a success.
The three co-founders are supported by a wide range of global industry leaders from across the northern shrimp value chain who have joined us as founding sponsors and conference partners.
The founding sponsors are: (1) Santa Priscila, (2) Omarsa, (3) Devi Seafoods, (4) AZ Gems and Sandhya Aqua, (5) Unima, (6) Labeyrie Fine Foods, Lyons Seafoods and Delpierre, (7 ) Seafood Connection, Maruha Nichiro and Inlet SeaFish, (8) Klaas Puul and Sykes, (9) Primstar and Gambastar, (10) Skretting, (11) Grobest, (12) JAPFA and Suri Tani Pemuka, (13) Protix, ( 14) Hendrix Genetics and Kona Bay, (15) Xpertsea, (16) eFishery, (17) Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch, (18) Aqua-Spark, (19) Heiploeg, (20) MSD Animal Health and IdentiGEN, (21 ) Cooke’s Seajoy, (22) Thai Union and Chicken of the Sea Frozen Foods.
With the early support of these founding sponsors, representing various sectors of the shrimp value chain, the Forum can get off to a flying start in realizing its ambitions.
Chris Ninnes, CEO of ASC and Chairman of GSFF, said: “It is only through collaboration that impactful change can be made. The ASC’s commitment to this Forum reflects our commitment to partner with all those who are committed to recognizing and rewarding responsible aquaculture and with those who actively seek to support the sector to achieve large-scale improvements.
“The aquatic shrimp industry deserves its own independent global platform where all facets of the industry – from exporters to importers, feed companies to technology companies, retailers and brands, but also financial institutions and NGOs, researchers and policy makers – can meet, share expertise and collaborate.
Brahmanandam Potru, President and Managing Director of Devi Seafoods, said, “Devi Sea Foods has been in the industry for nearly three decades and is present in every link of the shrimp supply chain. As one of India’s largest prawn producers, Devi Sea Foods works towards responsible sourcing by participating in sustainability and traceability improvement programs.
“The World Shrimp Forum would be an ideal platform for industry participants with diverse experiences and perspectives to share their learning and create better solutions for the global shrimp industry.”
Amy Novogratz, Managing Partner of AquaSpark, said, “We are grateful for the opportunity to participate as founding partners of GSF. As a fund invested in multiple shrimp solutions across the value chain, including Alternative Feed Ingredients, Disease Control, Digital Aquatech and Data-Powered Markets, we see the shrimp industry drastically change for the better. Bringing these solutions together with farmers, industry and other stakeholders to foster cooperation and an aligned vision for the future of shrimp is an imperative and exciting next step.
The Forum will meet on an annual basis over a period of 3 days in early September in Utrecht, the Netherlands. This location is at the heart of European markets and functions as a hub for technology companies and investors. The conference will be relevant to producers and exporters, importers, animal feed companies, ingredient suppliers, technology companies, financing and investment agencies, governments and civil society organizations.
Hassan Skøien, Global Marketing and Innovation Director Shrimp of Skretting, said:
“The World Seafood Forum is a great initiative to bring together all relevant stakeholders from one of the fastest growing seafood sectors, the shrimp industry. A platform representing the entire supply chain from East to West will help find solutions to the most pressing challenges we face.
Estelle Brennan, Head of Sustainability of Labeyrie Fine Foods UK, said: “Labeyrie Fine Foods is proud to be a founding sponsor of the Global Shrimp Forum, supporting the ASC and the Global Shrimp Forum team bringing together key players from all the facets of the shrimp. value chains. Labeyrie is convinced that such collaborative forums are essential to strengthen collective actions and drive improvements.
Jørgen J. Lund, CEO of Contango AS, Oslo, and one of the three founders of the Global Shrimp Forum, said: “As the founder of the world’s largest seafood conference in Norway in 2005, NASF , I’m proud to team up with the ASC and Shrimp Insights to form this unique, NASF-like global executive venue, just for the hot water shrimp industry.
It will be a unique business platform for the entire shrimp industry worldwide to come together and meet in a place created for the industry and by the industry!
Registration for the event is now open on Global Shrimp Forum website. Register now for the best value Early Bird registrations, available until May 1st. Additionally, sponsorship packages are available for those looking to support this important collaboration while enhancing their visibility at the Forum and within the industry.
About CSA
The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) is an independent, non-profit organization co-founded by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and The Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) in 2010 to manage the certification of responsible fish farming around the world.
ASC standards require farm performance to be measured against environmental and social requirements. Certification is done through an independent third-party process and reports are uploaded to the CSA public website.
The ASC logo on the packaging assures consumers that the fish they are buying has been raised with minimal impact on the environment and society.
For more information about CSA, please visit www.asc-aqua.org.
