They Got The Seafood, Mama
     Seafood Expo North America and Seafood Processing North America will soon launch its annual show next week (March 19-21, 2017) at Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in Boston, Massachusetts, one of the best annual shows for business leads, business decisions, and just plain fun. The events boasts more than 19,000 visitors and 1,000 exhibits from more than 100 countries.

Business & Orders For Transportation

      Seafood Expo is wall-to-wall decision-makers from all parts of the food chain.
      There are manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers, shipping experts, and container manufacturers by the score at Boston Seafood Expo.

Dining On The Hoof

      In addition to meeting up with guys in air cargo perishables from the world over—Scotland to the Cone of Chile—Seafood Expo exhibitors offer up samples of some of the best dining on the hoof imaginable.
      What a scene.
      Twenty-ounce draft in one hand, skewered shrimp in the other, Zantac within reach, then back to the airplane ready to take on the world.

Bigger Every Year

      “We’ve had very positive feedback from every group involved in the show,” Liz Plizga, Group Vice Presdient, Diversified Business Communications, the company that produces the event, told FlyingTypers.
      “The seafood community recognizes that the Boston Seafood Expo consistently provides the most progressive and comprehensive forum for knowledge-exchange and networking.
      “Boston Seafood Expo is not only a show with a great history, it is one of the most effective marketing tools for reaching the seafood business community,” she said.
      “Reports state 91 percent of seafood in the United States is imported from other countries, showing promise to international companies looking to expand their foothold. Regionally, there is notable influx in new participation from Brazil, Canada, China, Ecuador, Morocco, and Spain,” Liz Plizga said.

Doing The Most Good

      “This event provide[s] an opportunity to meet with a great deal of potential customers in a very short period of time,” said Soren Kaplan, Wall Street Journal best-selling author of the book Leapfrogging.

New Products

      A much anticpated part of the Boston Seafood Expo is The New Product Conference, providing seafood buyers a look at the latest value-added products, new species, packaging, and services.
      A panel of industry buyers screens products based on uniqueness and appropriateness to the market and chooses several winners from various categories for the Annual Seafood Excellence Awards (SEA).

Donations To Help The Needy

      Another nice tradition at Seafood Expo comes at the close of the show. Hundreds of exhibiting companies donate more than 20,000 pounds of fresh seafood leftover from the show, providing many thousands of meals for hungry men, women, and children throughout Eastern Massachusetts via the Greater Boston Food Bank.  
      The National Fisheries Institute is the official sponsor of the Seafood Expo North America and Seafood Processing North America.
Geoffrey

A GREAT DAY FOR THE IRISH
     There may always be an Ireland, and beyond that lovely prospect, always hundreds of parades around the world to celebrate March 17th.
     But from 11:00 a.m. until about 3:00 p.m. on an island called Manhattan, a green stripe runs down the middle of Fifth Avenue from 44th to 86th Street for The St. Patrick’s Day Parade, one of New York City’s greatest traditions.
     On St. Patrick’s Day a kind of wonderful delirium takes over Gotham.
     Everyone is Irish!
     The annual procession marches up Fifth Avenue, past St. Patrick’s Cathedral at 50th Street, all the way up past the Metropolitan Museum of Art at 83rd Street.
     New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day parade began before there was even a United States of America; the first march in Manhattan was held on March 17, 1762, when Irishmen from Ireland’s Revolutionary War brought the tradition here.
     Military units continued to march each year until after the War of 1812, when local Irish fraternal and beneficial societies began sponsoring the event.
     In those days, the parade was quite small, marching from local Irish meeting halls to Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Lower Manhattan on Mott & Prince Streets.
     By 1851, the groups had banded together, nominating a Grand Marshall and increasing the size of the parade.
     This was when the Irish 69th Regiment (now the 165th Infantry) became the lead marchers, and the Ancient Order of Hibernians became the official sponsor.
     We love St. Patrick’s Day.
     It’s when the “Irishrey” of New York come out in full celebration. Look into the faces of the uniformed services, especially the NYC Firefighters, and you will understand it immediately.
     We also like that St. Patrick’s Day Parade remains true to its roots by not allowing floats, automobiles and other commercial overkill.
     Marching, great bands, and bagpipes fill the air as more than 150,000 people from all over the country and the world celebrate in New York.
     This year 2017 we will be on the road Friday, March 17.
But in between trips we slipped over to Tommy Maloney’s in Long Island City, New York (www.tommymaloneys.com), which has the best real Irish corned beef, puddings and also boiling bacon (our most favorite).
     We gathered the clan this past Sunday and ate the traditional dinner until our hands got tired, loving every second of it.
     Then we pulled out the family album, laughed until we choked a couple of times, and ate some more!
     HAPPY SAINT PATRICKS DAY 2017!
Geoffrey