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Sales of £14.4 million generated at the world's largest seafood show in 2010.
Scottish firms will be out in force at the world's largest international seafood show this week (3rd - 5th May), expecting to generate millions of pounds of new business.
Sales in excess of £14.4 million were generated from attendance at the European Seafood Exposition (ESE) in 2010 and the sector is in buoyant mood again this year. Held in Brussels, the show is forecast to attract over 24,000 visitors from 140 countries.
Nineteen companies selling salmon, whitefish, shellfish, herring and mackerel are to exhibit on a Scottish Pavilion, promoting the vision of Scotland as 'The Land of Food and Drink'. Several other salmon companies are to exhibit at the show independently.
The 7,100sqft Scottish Pavilion is organised by Scottish Development International and represents the largest investment in an international show by this government agency.
A team of Scottish chefs are expecting to serve around 18,000 samples of Scottish produce to visitors at a seafood bar on the pavilion, hosted by Seafood Scotland. International buyers have been invited to attend a Scottish reception on the first day of the show.
Iain MacSween, Chair of Seafood Scotland, said: "We will be showcasing the wealth of sustainable seafood available from Scotland, and look forward to welcoming visitors from around the globe to sample our produce. Scotland lands two thirds of the UK seafood catch, which amounted to 366,000 tonnes worth £428 million in 2010.
"More than half by value of all Scottish fisheries have achieved MSC certification, including 95 per cent of our mackerel and herring stocks. In addition, our whitefish fleet leads Europe in innovative measures to reduce discarding and to speed cod recovery in the North Sea. These are all achievements to celebrate but do not make us complacent, and we will continue our efforts in the coming year to improve the industry."
Scott Landsburgh, Chief Executive of Scottish Quality Salmon and Scottish Salmon Producers' Organisation, who will be promoting Label Rouge Scottish salmon at the show, said: "Label Rouge Scottish salmon is going from strength-to-strength. Yet again, exports reached record levels last year and our farmers are optimistic that this trend will continue as it is top of the range, superior quality."
The food and drink leadership body, Scotland Food & Drink, has set ambitious targets to grow the value of the domestic food and drink sectors from £10 billion to £12.5 billion by 2017. Scottish seafood has a vital role to play if these targets are to be met.
Paul McLaughlin, Chief Executive of Scotland Food & Drink, said: "As one of Scotland's major primary food producing sectors, seafood has a vital part to play to help us achieve our industry-wide growth targets.
"Scotland is world renown for the quality and provenance of its fantastic seafood and ESE is an extremely important part of our international activity."
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