Day 1 at SEG 2025 : Welcome to the Barbie Dream Shipping Container
Day one of Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global is in the bag and it happens to be a Marc Jacobs inspired swag bag.
You’d think we’d be used to it by now, but every year, Barcelona dwarfs our memory of just how massive this event really is in scope and scale. The world doesn’t just show up, it shows off.
Across five sprawling halls, regional pavilions map out the globe in seafood form. Booths have evolved into brand-built experiences: full-on restaurants, lounge bars, product demos built out like factories, and enough swag and samples to easily fill a shipping container or 10.
The beauty of this show is that it lays out before you the full ecosystem of seafood—not just the fish but the freight, the freezing tech, the packaging wizards, the cold chain couriers, the innovation labs. Everyone who contributes to moving seafood forward is here, and they’ve shown up in their Sunday best. For anyone still skeptical that B2B marketing matters, we invite you to take one lap of just one hall of this show floor and try to maintain that belief. Spoiler: You won’t. Not when 2,187 seafood and seafood-adjacent businesses are all putting their best booth forward.
Our goal for Day 1 was simple: Observe. See what caught our eye and unpack why. We set out in search of creative optimism in action, and when it came to making seafood fun, these companies understood the assignment.
This roundup isn’t an endorsement—it’s a nod to great execution and a reminder that even in B2B, fun can be a force. We sought out gripping first impressions, visual punch, and how story and style work together to create connection.
Here's who stopped us in our tracks:
🚛💅 Gelazur – “Freight, but make it fashion”
We weren’t expecting freight to flirt with fabulous but Gelazur , a France based seafood sourcing and distribution company, has pulled it off. Their Barbie Dream House booth was a bold departure from the expected: a wash of pinks, purples, and crisp white fonts, accented with swag bags cheekily referencing The Tote Bag by Marc Jacobs. Yes, really. And yes, we got one. It was freight made feminine, playful, and pop-forward. Marketing team lead Alexia at Galazur recognized the increasingly powerful presence of women in the industry and decided to go hard. While we are well aware that not all women prefer pink, this statement booth design took a traditionally masculine side of seafood–visually and in practice–and leaned into not only the growing numbers of women moving into roles in industry leadership, but to the sea itself. The ocean is often referenced in the feminine, ships are given femme names, the very nature of the feminine archetype (I'm talking high level feminine divine concepts here, don't come for me) is to create and nurture life, sustenance, and community. They channeled that deeply rooted connection and lifted it up into something fun, desirable, and modern. And you know what? It worked. They took an often-overlooked piece of the supply chain and gave it an aesthetic bedazzling. There’s a real marketing lesson here: form can meet function, and flair has a place in logistics.
🦀♻️ Crustalicious – “From Plague to Plate”
Yes. You read that right. “From Plague to Plate.” Hands down the boldest, dark humor, WTF tagline of the day, and an immediate record scratch moment. This one's magic is all in the unexpected voice and tone. Crustalicious is tackling invasive crab species—the ones waking up daily and choosing violence, disrupting their surrounding ecosystems, and showing up as problematic bycatch. Over the past decade, the issue has grown dire, threatening to choke out other marine species and fishermen's livelihoods in the process. Not a fun story. These innovators took their tech driven mission to turn these ‘plague crabs’ into high-protein, low-impact ingredient for value-added products and communicated in an accessible, decidedly dark humored way. They've invented a way to extract 25% of the meat from these tiny crabs (no easy feat), and they’re working on uses for the rest: fertilizer, capsules, even astaxanthin extraction without acid processing (this we will definitely be digging into once the return home jetlag subsides). What’s more? They’re not gatekeeping the tech—they're here to demo and sell the machines themselves, aiming for a localize-then-leverage model that avoids unnecessary carbon footprints. And the branding? On point. Popping colors, accessible infographics, and a masterfully penned tagline that hooked us hard and made a serious issue accessible by leaning into being deeply unserious.
🌴🥟 PCS – Tiki bar takeover, but make it seafood
Frozen seafood products have a reputation: convenient, but a little... blah. PCS flipped that script with a full-blown tiki bar, complete with a palm-fringed roof, surf shack decor, and rainbow-bright beverages. Their booth said: Seafood is easy, accessible, and it knows how to party. From air-fryer-friendly croquettes to ocean-sourced gyozas, they made a strong case that value-added doesn’t have to languish in the dull side of the freezer aisle. This wasn’t just a visual stunt, it was a vibe shift that you are invited into. They’re bringing seafood into everyday fun, and we’re into it. Simple, delightful, fun. And after a stacked day of yapping and putting in steps, yes please pass the gyoza's and slushy bevs. Surfs up🤟🌊
What these examples have in common is the element of the unexpected. Through creative strategy, bold design choices, and messaging that leapt bravely out of the box, these three businesses showed that seafood doesn’t have to be serious to be taken seriously. .
Did we know these folks before? Nope. Do we know their inner workings or full origin story? Not yet. But that's kind of the point. This isn’t deep dive journalism. It’s boots-on-the-ground brand spotting, and these businesses knew how to set a great hook.
If you’ve been beating the trade show floor too, you might’ve clocked that all our standouts came from Hall 5. Well, that’s simply because it’s where we landed between meetings. (Did we mention the 51,000 square meters of exhibit space?) At SEG, you pick your hill to climb.
We’re back on deck for Day Two and ready to brave Halls 3 and 4. Got a booth we need to see? Slide into our DMs. If there’s a good story, we’ll be there. Bonus points if it’s near an espresso bar.
