An insightful seafood workshop focusing on both consumer trends and industry challenges.

Asia plays a very central role for most species caught or raised in the Atlantic Ocean. Either as an extremely important market for consumption, or as a processing market for re-export. The Norway-Japan relationship has been defining both for Norwegian farm raised salmon as well as wild caught Atlantic mackerel. Japanese mackerel inspectors have for many years during the season come to Norway to inspect every catch of mackerel to define the quality.

In this way the Norwegian fishermen’s and land industry have first-hand experienced the importance of selective fisheries as well as handling and cold storage. The Japanese sushi/sashimi consumption is another story that link Norway and Japan close together. Markets like China, Indonesia and Thailand is also countries that plays a significant role in the processing of several different Atlantic species for re-export to markets in Asia, Europe and Americas.

Given this background NSC and the panelists will address consumer trends and industry challenges at this workshop:

Trends to be explored:
Japanese Shushi/sashimi has been driving the Growth.
New products: Convenience and healthy eating
What is seafood sustainability to South-east Asian consumers
Why are consumers in Thailand and Singapore eating so much more Salmon than other ASEAN countries

Challenges:
Logistics and quality, fresh and frozen
Volatile prices and production capacity
Import Barriers and Market access
Processing industry on the move
Potential for new products/species