Mercabarna, the Fish Wholesalers’ Business Association (GMP) and 10 companies that operate out of the food estate will be present at the Seafood Barcelona trade fair, set to open on 22 October, under the brand “Fish from Mercabarna”.

The companies’ objective is primarily exports, given the sluggish state of the Spanish market due to the economic crisis. The countries of most interest to the majority of the Mercabarna businesses present at the fair are China and those of Eastern Europe, as well as the traditional European markets of France, Italy, Portugal and the UK.
Mercabarna will be the world’s only wholesale market present at Seafood Barcelona. The food estate businesses to exhibit at the fair include specialists in fresh and frozen fish and seafood; live and cooked seafood; scaled, gutted, filleted and packaged fish; fish and seafood-based ready-made dishes; and logistics operators that specialise in seafood products.

Through the brand “Fish from Mercabarna”, the estate’s managers and the GMP are keen to promote the advantages of buying fish from this large marketplace. Advantages of shopping at Mercabarna include the huge range of produce on the estate, marketed by companies that compete against each other to ensure the best quality/price ratio. Other very important competitive edges are the level of food safety, the capacity of the logistics operators together with their strategic geographical location (next to the Port and the Airport) and the service level they offer wholesale businesses.

Mercabarna is one of the world’s foremost food distribution centres and the principal food hub of the Mediterranean. The businesses in its fish sector import products from across the world and distribute them to national and international markets. Imports in the Mercabarna fish sector currently make up 34% of the total goods marketed each year, while exports comprise 18%.

Between the Central Fish Market and the onsite cold-logistic operators alone, which have 800,000 m3 of conventional and frozen storage areas, Mercabarna has the largest cold-logistics concentration in Spain, from where around 180,000 tonnes of fish are marketed every year. Additionally, 32 large firms that specialise in the preparation, distribution, importing and exporting of fish and seafood work in the Complementary Activities Zone, boosting this figure considerably.

Mercabarna Businesses at Seafood Barcelona 2013:
Barrufet Group, Cocedero de Mariscos, Comercial de Pescados Marfish, Consignaciones del Mar, Frime, Frimercat, Manet Import, Maresmar, Moray Fish Internacional and Peixos més Fred