What Happens at SENA Shouldn’t Stay at SENA

If you're neck-deep in follow-ups, hoarse-voiced from three days of full-volume conversations and recirculated air, and feeling that unique kind of delirious exhaustion that only a trade show can deliver then congratulations, you did it right. That's the aftermath of a solidly successful Seafood Expo North America experience.

The reality of a conference like SENA is that you have to plan for it not to go exactly to plan. There are too many conversations to have, too many chance encounters in the aisles, too many meetings running late because you keep running into people you know every ten feet. Starbucks takes forty minutes. The show floor is bigger than you remember. Someone’s gone MIA. Someone got distracted by snacks. Someone’s just had the most insane idea of their career and needs to talk about it now, right now, find a place to sit. It’s chaos. And you roll with it.

Our brains are still doing that thing where they can’t decide if they’re fired up or fried (maybe both?) but above the clatter one thing rang out clearly this year: it’s not just us after all, things are shifting.

So while we’re tucking back into our respective corners of the coast, trying to savor the last bit of SENA energy before it slips away into regularly scheduled life, let’s take a stroll through the gems that stood out, and what it means for where we go next.

💎Collaboration is the New Competitive Edge

The sheer force of collaboration is taking hold across the industry. We heard it in meetings, in panels, in off-the-cuff conversations over bad coffee, and watched it play out as competitors sat at the same table and strategized—not about taking each other down, but about lifting the entire seafood category up.

For the past year we’ve been talking about coexistence in the industry, moving past the wild vs. farmed debate, territorialism, and competition, and instead recognizing that when more people choose seafood, everyone wins. We weren’t sure how ready the industry was to embrace the idea, but SENA gave us our answer loud and clear: the tide is turning.

That conversation isn’t just theory anymore—it’s happening in real time. The smartest brands aren’t fighting for their individual piece of the pie, they’re working on making the pie bigger.

We saw it on the floor where small shellfish farms from Long Island pooled resources to host a shared booth and create a stronger collective presence. We saw it on social media, with the BC Salmon Farmers Association tapping into the next generation and handing their Instagram mic over to the Young Salmon Farmers of BC to inject some fresh humor into their storytelling (wise). We heard it in conversations about the need for category-level marketing—campaigns that don’t just push one company’s product but encourage people to eat more seafood, period.

Because when more people open the door to eating more seafood, we all win. That means saying yes to category-wide campaigns even if they benefit your competitor. It means investing in consumer education even if the spotlight isn’t always on you. It means beefing up the whole pie, not hoarding your slice.

Spoiler: this is going to be a recurring theme, and if it sounds like kumbaya, think again. This is strategy.

💎Reaching the Audiences No One’s Talking To (Yet)

We love to talk about Millennials and Gen Z, but let’s zoom out. The most overlooked seafood audience? Kids.

We got a chance to hang out with North Coast Seafoods pre-show and discovered they’ve been making some smart moves: getting their healthy, nutrient dense kelp meatballs in school cafeterias. Familiar format, approachable entry point, and PS they’re actually really delicious! This effort isn’t just about getting kids to try seafood, it’s creating taste memories and forging that nostalgic link that turns into adult buying behavior 15 years down the road.

Seafood needs to start thinking long game. That includes marketing to the parents who control grocery budgets and introducing seafood in forms that feel familiar and approachable (meatballs, nuggets, tacos—meet people where they are). If we want seafood to be second nature, we’ve got to start earlier and think longer.

💎Your Booth is your Anthem. What’s It Saying?

Shoutout to Angel Oak Smokehouse, who sashayed into Boston like the belle of the seafood ball. It was their debut and they showed up. Their booth was classy, cohesive, and a visual feast of an experience—warm wood tones, sharp typography, and hot smoked salmon ravioli that had people lining up.

There were dozens of smoked seafood products at SENA but the one people are still talking about? The one that looked like it knew exactly who it was.

They knew this was their one-shot moment and they didn’t waste a pixel of it. Your visual presence–branding, design, and the story they tell–matters. Your booth is your handshake. It doesn’t have to be outlandish—but it does have to be intentional.

💎Creating Buzz for B2B (Yes, It’s a Thing)

We find that seafood folks are quick to say, “we’re B2B, not consumer-facing”—as if that means you don’t need a brand or a marketing plan. False.

If you’re at SENA, you’re marketing. If you’re sending emails, walking the floor, handing out brochures, you’re marketing. And B2B marketing is often the most neglected space in this industry.

Angel Oak Smokehouse didn’t just show up for consumer clout. They showed up to make waves in a room full of processors, shippers, and buyers. Their buzz was B2B focused, and they landed it beautifully.

Creating experiences on the floor—swag, visuals, samples, anything that gets people talking—is your opportunity to create a viral moment within your own industry. The Underwater Harvester's Association may not have had a cushy booth, but nothing says, "Come chat with me, I've got a story for you" like a tank full of geoducks (thanks to Katie Lindsay for letting us hang out with the ducks and be weird). Make your booth memorable, have a story and strategy, give your follow-up materials life, and please have a good website.

💎You’re B2B… But Guess What? The Other B Has Eyes Too

So you nailed your booth. Someone loved your pitch. They’re holding your bracelet, your smoked salmon matchbook, your oyster sticker sheet, whatever brilliant swag gem you conjured—and they want to learn more.

What now?

If someone looks you up on their phone and your site hasn’t been updated since 2019? Straight to jail. Your digital presence is your business card now. Especially post-show when people are scanning QR codes, Googling your name, and checking you out on LinkedIn. Your follow-through matters so make sure you’re backing it up with a landing spot that tells your story, makes it easy to reach you, and doesn’t send them into a pre-pandemic time warp.

💎Swag That Doesn’t Suck (Or Sink)

We said it last year and we’ll say it again: if your swag isn’t making people say “I’ll buy another suitcase to make sure this comes home with me,” rethink it. There’s too much plastic, too many cheap pens, too many hats for a crowd that already has too many hats.

This year, we made handmade friendship bracelets (shoutout #SeafoodSwifties and our Creative Director for opting out of a night on the town for an evening of bead-crafts in the hotel room after they all got snatched up on day one), and Angel Oak dropped chic matchbooks that people were actually stoked to pocket. That’s the bar. Not cost—creativity.

Swag should spark conversation, make people smile, say something about your values, and ideally not end up in the trash by the end of the day. You’ve got a year til the next SENA. Start thinking about it now. Or message us, we love coming up with swag that actually slaps.

💎“I don’t want to be another nameless piece of flesh in the case…”

Real quotes from the SENA floor, folks.

Brands are waking up to the fact that without a clear retail story, something your retailer can tell a customer, you’re just another fillet. That’s a massive missed opportunity. If you can’t explain what sets your product apart, how is a grocery store clerk supposed to do it?

The burden of communication shouldn’t land squarely on retailers. At the end of the day, for us to keep moving the fish needs to be moving. Support them by showing them how to sell your story and give them a toolkit so that they can extend that same clarity to digital grocery platforms and social media, where today’s buying decisions are being made. Thanks to the SENA idea pressure cooker, we have a little something special in the works for this one…

Bring Your Problems, Bring Your Passion

The biggest takeaway we witnessed isn’t so much an innovation or a trend–it’s a mindset. This industry is waking up to the reality that we need each other. Competition will always exist, but it’s collaboration that will push seafood forward. The smartest brands, businesses, and organizations on the floor are finding strategic ways to partner, share resources, and elevate seafood as a category. That’s the energy we want to see carry forward beyond the show floor, because not everything that happens at SENA should stay at SENA.

Next up, Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona. If you thought Boston was hard on your gams, start training now. It’s SENA to the power of 10, and if this past week taught us anything, it’s that our calendars are going to fill up fast.

If you want to talk strategy, storytelling, and how to make your presence impossible to ignore on the floor and beyond, now’s the time to slide in there. Bring your boldest ideas, your messiest problems, and your appetite. Let’s share an overloaded tapas table, talk through your stuck spots, and start building something better.

Head over to our contact page to lock in a face-to-face. Seafood’s future is collaborative, creative, and absolutely cooking. We’re here for it and we’re just getting started.