April 2022: Camanchaca will promote its new European office at the world’s largest seafood trade fair

This is the 28th Seafood Expo Global, which will be held at the Fira Gran Via Exhibition Center in Barcelona from April 26 to 28. Camanchaca will present details of its new commercial office in Spain to its stakeholders for the first time at this event.

The 28th Seafood Expo Global is the world’s most important seafood fair and it will be held in the Fira Gran Via Exhibition Center in Barcelona during the last week of April after an absence of two years. Camanchaca will use this event to promote its new commercial office in Vigo, Spain to its main buyers on the continent. It will also describe its entire range of products designed for the European market.

Although the company has been selling through direct commercial representation for three years, it will begin to manage its own sales with effect from March this year. The new office will manage sales to Europe, Eurasia and the Middle East. It has been established to strengthen the value proposal provided by Camanchaca to its current and future customers, by supplying them with a wider range of products from one single location. This office offers many advantages in terms of structure, transportation, cost and cold storage, which will help the company to draw closer to its customers and provide them with an optimum quality service.

“The arrival of the pandemic demonstrated that we needed an inventory of top quality products, to provide extra services to our customers. This office is the vehicle to achieve that objective and provide a more personalized service. Therefore, Seafood Expo Global gives us a platform to describe this office to our buyers when we meet them again during this growth opportunity, as we can directly present our entire range of products,” said Tom Ruiz, Camanchaca’s Sales and Distribution Director for the EU and EEU.

Markets and products

Currently, the office handles 7% of Camanchaca’s total sales, which is expected to grow during 2022 and 2023, due to the direct customer contact provided by this opportunity.

The company will focus on sustainability as a strategic priority, in order to progress these plans. This is because sustainability is particularly important to the European market when doing business, and as Camanchaca’s industrial fishing and aquaculture businesses are certified as complying with the highest associated standards, it aims to become a benchmark for sustainable products.

Its frozen mussels are certified as complying with the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) standard, which is the strictest environmental and social performance standard in this sector. It is recognized as the principal standard for guaranteeing sustainable aquaculture, and will form a significant component of Camanchaca’s presentation.

This product has been introduced to new markets in recent years, its marketing has considerably increased and as a result it can now be found in more than 30 countries. During 2021, the company specifically strengthened its presence in markets such as Europe, the United States and Asia, mainly in direct distribution to retail and food service chains. Frozen and canned abalone will also form a significant component of its presentation, although they are focused mainly on the Asian market, the company also aims to develop them for the European market. “The fair in Barcelona will be a great opportunity to talk to a number of customers who have already shown interest in this product line, which covers fresh, frozen and canned formats,” said Tom Ruiz.

The salmon product strategy has been focused on higher added value products for more than three years, such as portions and fillets, which reached almost 95% of production in 2021. Currently, the company is developing more than 60% of these products, mainly Coho salmon, as its features include being farmed without using any antibiotics. This is because it is an innovative product that is not produced in Norway, and opens up further market diversification opportunities, where Europe plays an important role.

A significant milestone for the company this year was commissioning its new jack mackerel freezing plant. This species has Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification, which is the principal certification for sustainable fishing and complies with the best fishing practices worldwide.

Camanchaca’s new freezing plant in Coronel was commissioned last February and is already producing between 9 and 10 million kg per month. It uses state-of-the-art technology on 10 production lines and 7 freezing tunnels with the capacity to freeze 650 tons of jack mackerel per day.

Seafood Expo Global will bring together seafood professionals looking to do business in the European market, and exhibiting companies will be able to showcase their new products to buyers, while developing their business networks.