The first ever Global Shrimp Forum will take place on 6-8 September in 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 last 10 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 non-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: “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.” said van der Pijl.
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 2 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.
van der Pijl says, “Thanks to the early support of these founding sponsors, representing diverse sectors in the shrimp value chain, the Forum can make a flying start in achieving its ambitions.”
Chris Ninnes, CEO of ASC, and Chair of GSFF said: “Only through collaboration can impactful change
be delivered. ASC’s commitment to this Forum reflects our dedication to collaborating with all those
committed to recognizing and rewarding responsible aquaculture and to those actively looking to
support the sector to make broadscale improvements.”
‘The warm water shrimp industry deserves its own independent global platform where all facets of the
industry – from exporters to importers, from feed companies to tech companies, retailers and brands
but also financial institutions and NGOs, researchers and policy makers – can meet, share expertise
and collaborate.’
Brahmanandam Potru, Chairman and Managing Director of Devi Seafoods said: “Devi Sea Foods has
been in the industry for nearly three decades and has a presence in all sections of the shrimp supply
chain. As one of the large shrimp producers from India, Devi Sea Foods has been working towards
responsible sourcing by participating in improvement programs for sustainability and traceability.
‘The Global Shrimp Forum would be an ideal platform for industry participants with diverse
experiences and perspectives to share their learning and build better solutions for the global shrimp
industry.”
Amy Novogratz, Managing Partner of AquaSpark said: “We are grateful for the opportunity to
participate as founding partners of GSF. As a fund invested in multiple shrimp solutions across the
value chain, including alternative feed ingredients, disease battling, Digital Aquatech, and data
powered marketplaces, we see the shrimp industry radically changing for the better. Bringing these
solutions together with farmers, industry and other stakeholders to foster cooperation and an aligned
vision of the future of shrimp is an imperative and exciting next step.”
The Forum will meet on an annual basis over a 3-day period 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 organisations.
Hassan Skøien, Global Marketing & Innovation Director Shrimp of Skretting, said:
“The Global Seafood Forum is an excellent initiative to gather all relevant stakeholders of one of the
fastest growing seafood sectors, the shrimp industry. A platform representing the whole supply chain
from East to West will help find solutions for the most urgent challenges we are facing.”
Estelle Brennan, Head of Sustainability of Labeyrie Fine Foods UK, said: “Labeyrie Fine Foods is
proud to be a founding sponsor of the Global Shrimp Forum, supporting the ASC and the Global
Shrimp Forum team bringing together leading players of all facets of the shrimp value chains. Labeyrie
firmly believes that such collaborative forums are essential to bolster collective actions and drive
improvements.”
Jørgen J. Lund, CEO of Contango AS, Oslo, and one of the three founders of the Global Shrimp
Forum, said: “As the founder of the world’s largest seafood conference in Norway in 2005,
NASF, I am proud to team up with the ASC and Shrimp Insights to form this unique global top-
executive venue, similar in format to NASF, solely for the warm-water shrimp industry.
This will be a unique commercial platform for the entire shrimp industry worldwide to congregate and
meet on a venue created for the industry and by the industry!”
Registration for the event is now open on the Global Shrimp Forum website.
