First Global Shrimp Forum launched

The first-ever Global Shrimp Forum will take place from September 6-8, 2022 in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The Forum is the warm water shrimp industry’s first dedicated annual conference and business meeting, aiming to drive the shrimp industry towards a resilient and sustainable future.

The global warm water shrimp production doubled over the past ten years, and over the next 30 years, demand for seafood is expected to increase further. Global trade of farmed shrimp will continue to expand connecting the producing countries with consumers in many markets around the globe. But this USD 20 billion per year industry doesn’t have its own meeting place where all different businesses and stakeholders can connect.

The Global Shrimp Forum will cover relevant and urgent business topics such as:

Production and market outlooks.
Innovation and technologies that transform shrimp production, supply chains and markets.
Legal and regulatory challenges.
New and upcoming producers and niche products.
Finance and investment.

But first and foremost, the Global Shrimp Forum will become the largest unique top-executive meeting place for the shrimp industry, bringing together more than 400 leading players across the entire supply chain.

The Global Shrimp Forum is initiated by an independent not-for-profit foundation set up by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), Shrimp Insights, and Contango. The purpose of the Global Shrimp Forum Foundation (GSFF) is to establish a global platform for knowledge sharing, innovation, and industry value-chain collaboration for driving a sustainable future for the industry. Besides ASC, Shrimp Insights and Contango, Johan Brouwer, former executive at Marine Harvest and Seafood Connection and today working for Veramaris, also has a seat on the Global Shrimp Forum Foundation board.

Willem van der Pijl, owner of Shrimp Insights, and founder, board member and managing director of Global Shrimp Forum, said that “the shrimp industry is fragmented. It consists of hundreds of thousands of farmers, thousands of importers and exporters, and many more companies that support the industry with ingredients, technologies, services and finance, and investment. This high level of fragmentation makes it difficult to convene a meeting where all these players feel represented, which is why the Global Shrimp Forum is such an important initiative.”

“Establishing a dedicated platform for everyone who wants to be part of a dialogue on not only the challenges confronting the shrimp industry but also the potential solutions is greatly needed. I view it as my personal mission to make this initiative successful,” van der Pijl said.

The three co-founders are supported by a wide range of global industry leaders from the entire warm water shrimp value chain who have come on board 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) Seajoy by Cooke, (22) Thai Union and Chicken of the Sea Frozen Foods.

The Forum will meet on an annual basis over three days in early September in Utrecht, the Netherlands. This location is at the heart of the European markets, and functions as a hub for tech companies and investors. The conference will be relevant for producers and exporters, importers, feed companies, ingredient suppliers, technology companies, finance and investment agencies, governments, and civil society organizations.

Registration for the event is now open on the Global Shrimp Forum website. Register now to get the best value Early Bird Registrations, available until May 1. For more information, contact Willem van der Pijl, willem@shrimpinsights.com (+31 6 10642177).