Europe's biggest seafood buying event, with a dedicated processing equipment hall. For EU processors it sets the calendar for freezing, glazing and conveying investment decisions.
Seafood Expo Global returns to Fira de Barcelona Gran Via from 20 to 22 April 2027, co-located with Seafood Processing Global, the equipment side of the same show. The 2026 edition drew more than 35,500 professionals, the largest attendance in its history, with 2,290 exhibiting companies from 85 countries. Retail and foodservice groups such as Aldi, Carrefour, Lidl, Mercadona and Sysco sat in the 2026 Key Buyer Program, and buyers like these ask suppliers about volume, consistency and specification. The answers depend on the freezing and glazing capacity behind them. Havmek's engineers can turn a throughput target into a specification before you travel.
20–22 Apr 2027 (Tue to Thu) · Fira de Barcelona Gran Via, Spain · Annual · Organiser: Diversified · Trade only
DATES Tuesday 20 to Thursday 22 April 2027.
HOURS Tuesday and Wednesday 10:00 to 18:00. Thursday 10:00 to 16:00.
VENUE Fira de Barcelona Gran Via, Av. Joan Carles I, 64, 08908 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
FORMAT Seafood Expo Global and Seafood Processing Global are co-located, and one registration covers both. Trade only.
LAST EDITION More than 35,500 professionals, 2,290 exhibiting companies from 85 countries, 65 national and regional pavilions and more than 52,980 net square metres across halls 1 to 5 and the galleria between halls 4 and 5 (organiser-reported).
The 32nd edition ran 21 to 23 April 2026 and set the attendance record: more than 35,500 industry professionals. The organiser also cites visitors from 149 countries on its attendee pages, and estimates the economic impact for Barcelona at more than 161 million euros. These are organiser figures, but the direction is consistent: this is the largest seafood sourcing event in the calendar, and it is held in Spain, one of Havmek's target markets.
The Key Buyer Program, which gives high-volume buyers free registration, early hall entry and a buyer lounge, listed Aeon Topvalu, Aldi, Aramark and Avendra International, Bidfood, Carnival UK, Carrefour, Elior, Gategroup, HelloFresh, Kura Sushi, Lidl, Mercadona, Metro, Pomona PassionFroid, Sodexo, Sysco, Viking Cruises and Wonderfield Group. Government delegations visited from Norway, Iceland, Ireland, Canada, Spain, Catalonia and the United Kingdom, among others.
Seafood Processing Global connects processors with suppliers of equipment, packaging, services and solutions, and sits inside the same registration as Seafood Expo Global. The organiser's exhibitor categories read like a processing line: freezing systems, refrigeration systems and supplies, cutting machinery, slicers, temperers and formers, packaging machinery, scales, labeling equipment, containers and totes, and warehousing and cold storage.
The 2026 coverage described the equipment side as spanning the full processing chain, from packaging machinery and refrigeration systems to hygiene technologies, transport, logistics and quality control services. The organiser has not published a separate exhibitor count for Seafood Processing Global, so this page does not quote one.
Most seafood trade shows sell product. Seafood Processing Global sells the line behind it, and the organiser lists freezing systems, refrigeration, packaging machinery and cold storage among its exhibitor categories. Because one registration covers both shows, a processor can hear what buyers expect in the morning and compare freezer, glazer and conveyor options in the afternoon. Havmek builds IQF spiral freezing, glazing and conveying around the product mix and the throughput you need, so the useful thing to bring is a clear brief rather than a brochure request.
See how Havmek's IQF freezing systems are specifiedThe organiser's 2026 release lists delegation visits from Norway's Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Policy, Iceland's Ministry of Industry and Innovation, Ireland's fisheries ministry, the United Kingdom's Minister of Food Safety and Spain's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Those are the markets Havmek is built to serve, alongside Portugal. If you process salmon, whitefish or shellfish for any of them, the equipment conversations in Barcelona are about exactly the volumes and specifications your customers set. Havmek can help you work out what your line needs for that market.
Talk to Havmek about your target marketThe organiser says the 2027 conference will feature more than 30 educational sessions from industry experts. Its call for proposals, which closed on 18 September 2026, invited sessions on topics including processing and equipment, automation and machine learning, traceability and transparency, supply chain compliance and control, and sustainable seafood innovation. Session titles and dates for 2027 had not been published when this page was checked.
Two buyer programmes run alongside the floor. The Key Buyer Program brings high-volume retail, foodservice and distribution buyers, and the Seafood Processing and Aquaculture Buyer Program, which the organiser describes as new, connects pre-qualified buyers with equipment, technology and services suppliers. The Seafood Excellence Global Awards, which in 2026 had 35 finalists from 16 countries, and the oyster shucking competition are part of the show's regular programme, but their 2027 details were not yet published.
The 2026 edition also added an Aquaculture Innovation Zone with an Innovation Theater covering fish health, water quality monitoring, AI-driven analytics and sustainable production systems. Whether it returns in 2027 is unconfirmed, although the organiser's attendee pages still list it.
With more than 2,000 exhibiting companies across five halls and a Thursday that closes at 16:00, the visitors who get the most out of Barcelona arrive with a shortlist. Processors sizing freezing, glazing or conveying capacity should bring an hourly throughput figure, the species and product mix, a target glaze percentage and the hygiene requirement. Havmek can turn that into a specification before you travel, or review it with you when you are back.
Get your capacity spec ready before BarcelonaOPENING HOURS Tuesday and Wednesday 10:00 to 18:00. Thursday 10:00 to 16:00.
REGISTRATION Trade professionals above the age of 16 only. Each badge is for one person and cannot be shared. Fees and deadlines were not published on the pages checked, so see the organiser's attend page.
FROM THE AIRPORT El Prat airport is 12 km away. Metro line 9 Sud runs from terminals T1 and T2 to Fira station. Bus 46 also stops at both terminals, and its nearest stop to the venue is Plaça Europa, about 500 metres away. The organiser puts a taxi fare at about 27 euros.
FROM SANTS STATION Take metro line L5 to Collblanc, change to L9 and get off at Fira.
PARKING Underground car parks run along the venue perimeter. Parking A and B open at 07:30 on show days.
VISAS The organiser cannot provide visa invitation letters. Applicants should include their registration confirmation and event promotional material.
TRAVEL OFFERS The organiser lists a Hola Barcelona transport card and a RENFE train discount for attendees on its site.
Seafood Expo Global and Seafood Processing Global run from Tuesday 20 to Thursday 22 April 2027 in Barcelona, Spain.
The show is held at Fira de Barcelona's Gran Via venue, Av. Joan Carles I, 64, 08908 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
The organiser lists Tuesday 20 April and Wednesday 21 April as 10:00 to 18:00, and Thursday 22 April as 10:00 to 16:00.
Seafood Processing Global is the equipment, packaging and services side of the same event. It is co-located with Seafood Expo Global, and one registration covers both.
The 2026 edition, the 32nd, brought more than 35,500 industry professionals, the largest attendance in the event's history. It had 2,290 exhibiting companies from 85 countries, 65 national and regional pavilions and more than 52,980 net square metres of exhibit space.
The organiser lists owners, executive purchasing managers, category managers, private label buyers and equipment and packaging buyers, across retail, foodservice, seafood processing and packaging equipment, import and export, and aquaculture. Its 2026 Key Buyer Program included Aldi, Carrefour, Lidl, Mercadona, Metro and Sysco.
No. It is a trade event for qualified seafood industry professionals above the age of 16. Each badge is for one person and cannot be shared.
Exhibitor categories listed by the organiser include freezing systems, refrigeration systems and supplies, packaging machinery, cutting machinery, slicers, temperers and formers, scales, labeling equipment, and warehousing and cold storage.
The airport is 12 km from the venue. Metro line 9 Sud runs from airport terminals T1 and T2 to Fira station, and bus 46 stops at both terminals with its nearest stop to the venue at Plaça Europa, about 500 metres away.
The organiser says the 2027 programme will feature more than 30 educational sessions. Its call for proposals invited topics including processing and equipment, automation and machine learning, and traceability and transparency, and closed on 18 September 2026.
No. The organiser says it cannot provide letters of invitation for visa purposes and advises applicants to include their registration confirmation and event promotional material with a visa application.
Yes. Seafood Processing Global puts freezing, refrigeration and packaging suppliers in the same registration as the buyers, so a processor can compare what buyers specify with what equipment can deliver in one visit.
Venue image credits:Europa building — Samynandpartners (CC BY-SA 4.0); Boston Convention and Exhibition Center — Generaltso (CC BY-SA 3.0); Fira Gran Via — Toni Rodrigo (CC BY 2.0). Images cropped for display.
