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European Seafood Exposition alive with innovative frozen products: over 20,000 visitors expected to check out over 1,100 stands showcasing fish and seafood products ranging from squid fingers and Sicilian Sea Fantasy to organic king prawns. (ESE Brussels Preview).

Article Excerpt
The European Seafood Exposition (ESE) May 6-8 in Brussels promises to provide a forum for the entire seafood industry to connect with existing customers, launch new products, meet new buyers, and identify trends in the worldwide seafood industry.

ESE features more than 1,100 seafood companies from over 65 countries representing every category of seafood. More than 20,000 key buyers are expected to attend the event. It is co-located with Seafood Processing Europe (SPE), which will showcase packaging materials and equipment, processing and freezing machinery, quality assurance gear and related products and services.

The US lobster industry, which has registered large gains in the top three European markets for lobster--Italy, France and Spain--will be represented again at ESE. American lobster is promoted abroad under USDA's Market Access Program (MAP) by the American Seafood Institute (ASI) and the Maine Lobster Promotion Council (MLPC).

Since the early 1990s, ASI, MLPC and exporters of American lobster have exhibited live and frozen lobster at the ESE, where connections have been made with seafood buyers from Europe and other regions. The strong presence of US suppliers at the show has helped build awareness of American lobster and boosted exports. For the 2002 ESE, sales of lobster for the 12 months following the show were projected to reach $13.7 million, compared to $6 million the year before.

Up until 2002, Italy led the import pace with purchases of $35.3 million in 2001, up 178% from $12.7 million in 1995. In France, the second largest market, the US industry showed strong sales throughout the period, with exports in 2001 of $27.5 million. Shipment to Spain recorded the largest percentage growth (279%) for the period, rising to $25.8 million in 2001, from $6.8 million in 1995.

Canada's...