Coronavirus Concerns Postpone Second Food Show

Just a few days after Natural Products Expo West, yesterday another trade show for the food industry was postponed. The Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing Expo North America conference and trade show, which was scheduled to be held in Boston March 15-17, was expected to bring 1,329 exhibitors from 49 countries for a total of more than 22,150 attendees to the city’s Seaport area.

Conference producer Diversified Communications told attendees that it would work to find a new event opportunity in 2020 somewhere in North America, promising to share the new arrangements with attendees within the next month.

“Depending on date and location availability, the event might look slightly different for 2020,” Diversified said in a statement, “but will continue to provide the opportunities to connect suppliers and buyers in the industry.”

The 40th edition of the trade show, which brings together seafood processors, producers and suppliers, was already expecting slightly reduced attendance due to the lack of attendees from China, which represented about 5% of attendees and 9% of the exhibit space. Exhibitors from the natural food industry were slated to include Acme Smoked Fish Corp., Bar Harbor Foods, Blue Evolution, Boston Smoked Fish Co., Craig’s All Natural, Chicken of the Sea, Gorton’s Seafood, Highliner Foods, Luke’s Lobster, Marukan Vinegar and more.

Diversified Communications had been updating attendees on the spread of COVID-19 (also known as the Coronavirus) and its effects on the show since January. It had put several health and containment protocols in place in recent weeks before finally delaying the event. It’s sister conference, Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global is still scheduled to be held in Brussels, April 21 -23. In 2019 the fair saw almost 30,000 buyers and suppliers attend.