Day 2 at SEG 2025 : Seafood as Story, Space, and Sensation
Trade shows are wild places. Not just because they’re big (though, yes, this one’s a special kind of behemoth), but because of the energy generated within them. You’re walking through hundreds of versions of the same question: What does seafood mean to you? So for us, yesterday’s mission was clear—Find the brands that weren’t just showing seafood, but building worlds with it.
On Day 2, we turned our focus toward sensory storytelling. Not just what’s on the plate, but what’s in the air, in the architecture, and what’s pulling us deeper into the experience. These booths showed not only products, but presence.
Here’s what caught our eye and why it matters.
🍷 The Italian Pavilion – La Dolce Brand Vita
The Italians really get storytelling. Their pavilion felt less like a booth and more like stepping into a seaside village market at golden hour. Laneways divided regions like neighborhood stalls, complete with striped awnings, high-walled (printed) architecture echoing old-world charm, and sweeping visuals of sunlit Mediterranean coasts. You could hear the echoes of laughter, conversation, bargaining. A place of joy and sharing. Food and history and place, all entwined.
There were even a few actors in historical dress—and yes, they knew their facts. But the real star was how it all came together: not just seafood, not just trade, but a full theatrical experience that wrapped culture, cuisine, and character into one immersive brand moment.
Italy doesn’t separate its stories. They stack them, layer them, serve them with wine and flair. Fantastico!
🍽 Restaurants, Red Carpets & Roaring Calm
At the end of the day, everyone’s here because of the product. So why not serve it? Literally.
Across the halls, pop-up restaurants were delivering distinct, deeply branded experiences that brought seafood to life. And since we’re the kind of people who want to try a little bit of everything (tapas life looks good on us) we have a handful of favorites.
French Pavilion – French Seafood for Good There’s a reason the French are known for their effortless elegance. This pop-up gives casual luxury by the seaside vibes, where you could sip the finest champagne and enjoy fresh oysters harvested by humble hands that very morning.
Sea Fresh URK (Netherlands) – Bright national colors, fish case displays so crisp they could be in 8K, and cheekily charming seafood specialists who knew their stuff. This booth was hospitality-first. Subtle, but with enough pride to make you stay—and enough flavor to make you remember.
Prodemar – AKA The Big Wave Booth If you eat with your eyes first, this booth served a sensory feast. The ceiling rippling with wave-shaped wood panels, a massive screen looping endless rolling seas, and sleek design that felt both futuristic and elemental. Roaring calm is the best way to describe it—a paradox that somehow makes sense.
FRIME, S.A.U. – The Sustainable Tuna Company A true Barcelona story. From a humble stall in La Boqueria to a global seafood name, FRIME’s booth told a tale through contrast: an industrial exterior styled like a shipping container, with a lush, glowing interior draped in greenery and light. The tension between hard and soft, sharp and soothing, created instant intrigue. It was calm, cool, and confidently unexpected—just like their evolution.
These spaces felt more like hand written invitations. Each booth gave you something to feel, something to remember, and something to talk about. In a world where digital overload is real, that kind of human-to-human moment is powerful.
🦞 PEI Lobster – Virtual Reality, Real Heart
Anyone who’s been to Canada's Maritime Provinces knows there’s a kind of hospitality mixed with curiosity inherent in the character of the people who live there. And yes, they know how to have a good time.
You may be standing in line at a convenience store, strike up a conversation with the person behind you, and next thing you know you’re in their Nan’s kitchen with half the village, the air rich with the smell of freshly cooked seafood and spuds, drinks flowing, and someone swapping between rousing sea shanties and Brian Adams covers on the accordion. Welcome to the kitchen party.
When we understand each other–our food, stories, loves, laughs, and livelihoods—we become community. So it’s no surprise that this humble island was the one to step outside the box, and invite you to step into their world.
Canada’s smallest province brought one of the biggest little immersive experiences of the day: a virtual reality journey into the heart of PEI lobster life. Slip on the headset and you’re suddenly dockside, watching the morning catch come in. Then you’re on the boat, standing in the wheelhouse with the captain as he navigates rolling swells on the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
The VR experience didn’t just inform—it transported. While many attendees of SEG have been in the industry for years, many have never swapped the suits for boots and really experienced first hand where the catch they depend on for their own livelihood comes from.
In this innovative yet simple way, Lobster PEI did what folks from the Canadian Maritimes do best. They didn’t overcomplicate it. They just opened the door. As anyone from the Maritimes will tell you, that’s how you start a good kitchen party.
From theatrical coastlines to wave-swept ceilings and virtual boat rides, Day 2 reminded us that the best brand experiences don’t tell–they welcome, engage, and turn their presence into something you can feel in all of your senses.
