Have you ever wanted to learn more about where the seafood we eat comes from? This weekend, I was invited by The Marine Products Export Development Authority India (MPEDA) to attend the annual Seafood Expo North America! India is one of the leading nations in exportation of seafood to the United States. I had the opportunity to speak with leaders in this field.
Did you know that India is the largest distributor of shrimp in the world?
India is also the largest exporter of shrimp to the United States, providing 40% of the shrimp that Americans consume! 90% of the shrimp farms in India are small and family-owned.
The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) is the primary organization in India that promotes Indian marine products and helps ensure quality seafood exports. Mr. Dodda Venkata Swamy, the MPEDA Chairman stated that, "The mission of MPEDA is to enforce the quality standards of marine products to importing nations and grow our shrimp in a sustainable way."
MPEDA curated delicious Indian shrimp recipes for exhibitors to taste. The shrimp was cooked in a flavorful coconut and black pepper sauce (top) and was placed on a base of lemon basmati rice (bottom left) or a chickpea, cherry tomato, pecan, and millets (bottom right).
The Consul General of India, Mr. Randhir Jaiswal, was also in attendance at the expo for the inauguration of the MPEDA Indian Seafood booth. Mr. Jaiswal spoke highly of the Indian seafood companies saying that they, "maintain the highest quality standards and are some of the largest exporters of seafood in the world. Seafood is a health food and we want to expand to innovative and new-age products."
Indian Seafood Exporters
At the Seafood Expo, I spoke with many of the Indian seafood exporters that are some of the largest exporters of their specific seafood in the world. See below to read more about the exporters.
Salet Seafoods
Salet has over 30 years of manufacturing and exporting experience out of India. They are the largest exporter of silver pomfrets in India, but also export king fish, Indian mackerel, squid, cuttlefish, and octopus. They export the frozen product to Europe, USA, Japan, and Taiwan.
Sashimi Foods
Sashimi Foods is a unique company in India, exporting sashimi grade tuna, yellowfin, and skipjack. With warehouses near the ocean and accessibility to nearby airports, they are able to ship product promptly by plane all over the world.
New Faizon Foods
They are one of largest fish fillet exporters out of India. New Faizon’s specialties are frozen grouper and unicorn filets, exporting primarily to Europe and the US.
Calcutta Seafoods
Calcutta Seafoods is the largest exporter of Indian freshwater prawn. They also export black tiger prawn.
Devi Seafoods
Devi Seafoods is the second largest seaport exporter out if India specializing in the sale of shrimp. 90% of sales are vannamei white shrimp and the other 10% are tiger shrimp. Their shrimp can come head on, head off, deveined, tail on or off, cooked, raw, or marinated. They also sell shrimp cocktail rings that can me consumed after thawing.
Gadré Surimi
Gadré is a one stop shop for surimi. They are the third largest surimi processor in world, exporting to 40 countries worldwide. Their vertical integration handles the surimi from catch to shelf/retail-ready. Gadré also provides scholarships to aspiring sushi chefs to attend the Sushi Chef Institute in LA.