‘Food from the Sea’ attracts strong speaker lineup

A breakout session at Our Ocean Conference (July 10) will discuss the potential for Ireland’s seafood industry to expand as a significant quality-led player on new global markets. The day begins with a keynote address from Simon Coveney, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, followed by presentations from international marine experts and commentators. 

Organised by BIM, the seafood development agency, the afternoon session will address key challenges facing Ireland’s seaafood sector including, abilty to expand the raw material base; urgency to develop scale, and growing businesses that are ‘simultaneously sustainable and economically viable’.

Food futurist Christophe Pelletier’s keynote address: ‘Robotics, Drones and Driverless Tractors – The Future of Food Production on Land and the Sea – will focus on future technology drivers and how they will shape new systems and change operation management.

It will also discuss how technology has the potential to reconcile objectives in production, enviromment and consumer demands, and how important the right mindset is to maximising technology advantages.

Oyvind Oaland, Global Director Research & Development and Technical, Marine Harvest Group, will focus on raw material in his presentation: ‘We are what we eat, what we catch, what we grow. 

Delegates will hear that how Ireland uses its raw material base to help meet the needs of a growing global population (eight billion people requiring 42 million tonnes of seafood by 2030) will shape its ability to compete effectively for a global share.  

Joe Gill, Goodbody Ireland, will outline a roadmap on how to effectively develop scale within Ireland’s seafood businesses. Many companies are small-scale, family-run, with a turnover ranging €3m-€10m. By 2017, BIM aims to have helped four companies generate turnover great than €50m. 

Peter Marshall will explain how he developed an alternative sustainabilty standard – Global Trust Certification – which is now recognised in more than 25 countries.

To register for Food for the Sea go to: www.ouroceanwealth.ie