How did our tiny organisation from the tip of Africa get to be there?!

Thanks to the German Import Promotion Desk or IPD who run a three-year programme to support small producers to access the EU market; ABALOBI are part of that programme, one of the benefits being that they funded a stand at the Expo showcasing all the organisations that are part of their programme and involved in the seafood trade.

Pre-Expo activity

The IPD held a great workshop the day before the Expo started, going through preparations for the stand, some useful sales coaching, and planning for the match-making sessions.
They also arranged a visit to a local Carrefour (hypermarket) where we experienced in-store fish merchandising (fresh and frozen) and were asked to identify something new we learned, how sustainability was marketed in-store, and think about what opportunity might exist for our companies in the retail space.

The Expo - a hive of activity

The majority of the 3 days was spent meeting with potential seafood buyers and distributors from across the globe. Now that ABALOBI is finally in a position to export Fish With A Story, these face-to-face meetings made for invaluable first touch points. The team also benefitted from seeing how other global producers package and present their seafood products - concepts that may work well for the retail trade here in SA.

• The ABALOBI team also spent time at the Community Catch stand with their team - Congratulations on your official launch of the new certification programme at #SEG2025 and to Linda Wood for taking on the role of CEO! Community Catch are developing a certification for small-scale fisheries specifically, and ABALOBI founder Serge has been part of various working groups developing this certification. Furthermore the ABALOBI Yellowtail Fishers in Struisbaai were one of the pilots for the self-assessment part of the certification programme

Conference sessions

In addition to the proactive networking activity, four conference sessions were attended by the ABALOBI team (thanks to a sponsored ticket from Marks and Spencer in the UK):

1. From Sea to Shelf: 'Unpacking Consumer Behavior and Market Trends in Sustainable Fisheries'.
2. Data Standards for Traceability: 'Enabling Suppliers and Retailers to Succeed and Improve Collaboration Amid Growing Buyer and Regulatory Requirements'.
3. Keynote: 'The Uncertain New World' by respected economist, Columbia University professor, and vice president of the FC Barcelona Foundation football club, Xavier Sala-i-Martin: 'Navigating the new economic uncertainties impacting the global seafood industry and the world at large'
4. The Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST) Open Forum.

Some fantastic site visits

The team finished the trip with a great visit to Mercadona - a large Spanish supermarket chain; of particular interest was seeing how they have implemented the shift from fresh fish counters to well presented and packaged fresh seafood.

Finally an experience at the Mercabarna Fish Market! An incredible hub, where fresh seafood from all over the world moves through on a daily basis.