Derek Figueroa, president and chief executive officer of Denver-based Seattle Fish Co. and new chairman of the McLean, Virginia, USA-headquartered National Fisheries Institute (pictured above), will deliver the state of the industry address on February 5, the last day of the Virtual Global Seafood Market Conference (GSMC) that begins on Monday, February 1.
“Seattle Fish has a legacy of using technology and engagement to do more in the seafood space,” said Figueroa. “In 1918 the company created a cold chain system that used rail cars, sawdust and ice to transport fresh seafood to the landlocked state of Colorado. We were getting customers what they needed. That’s what NFI is doing with the Virtual Global Seafood Market Conference. We can’t meet in person, but the industry needs the data and insight we’ve come to rely on from GSMC. So we’re doing it virtually.”
The Virtual Global Seafood Market Conference will ru for two hours each day. The GSMC Webinar Series lasts all year with biweekly offerings providing species-specific data and markets-focused dialogue. Attendees can register for the GSMC Bundle package here.
As part of his just released video message, Figueroa notes the benefits of a virtual conference and webinar series include the fact that producers recognize, during a pandemic, things change by the “week, by the day, even by the minute.”
Virtual GSMC will feature plenary presentations and sessions on retail, foodservice, the economy, alternative proteins and more. Keynote speakers from IRI, 210 Analytics, Datassentail, CattleFax, Urner Barry, Rabobank and Wells Fargo will detail market shocks and recovery timelines.
The program will also feature C-suite perspectives from leaders in retail and foodservice sectors, as well as an address from a man who knows a thing or two about pivoting, former football and baseball champion and Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson. Since the All-Star athlete retired from professional sports, the business entrepreneur has been active on the food industry playing field as president and chief executive officer of Jackson & Partners, Jackson Partners Restaurant Group, VEJ Holdings, and as the ambassador and driving force of Bo Jackson Signature Foods.
