Kings Infra Ventures Ltd, a Kochi-based seafood processing firm, is expanding its footprint into EU markets as part of its business development plan.
The company has appointed Jesus Vicente Piero Sos, as Business Development Advisor based in Spain to expand its seafood business in Spain, Italy, France, Portugal and other countries of Europe.
Shaji Baby John, CMD, Kings Infra said in a regulatory filing to stock exchanges that there is a need to establish a strong representation in Europe for better communication and continuous engagement with the importers, distributors and retailers. The new appointment is taken with a view to introduce ‘Head-on-Shell’ on Vannamei and Black Tiger shrimps to Spain, Italy, France and other European countries.
Expanding network
The company already has a strong presence in the EU, supplying high quality cuttlefish, squids and octopus for several years, he added.
Europe has been a major market for shrimps and cephalopods from India for decades. During the visit to the Seafood Expo 2024 at Barcelona recently, the company established contacts with several leading importers and distributors from Spain, Italy, France, Portugal and other European countries. The reason for fall in imports to EU from India in 2023 was discussed and suitable strategies were formulated to overcome the bottlenecks, especially the longer transit time due to the Red Sea crisis, Shaji Baby John said.
Europe has very stringent norms for shrimp imports especially Zero Tolerance to residual antibiotics and heavy metals. Ecuador and other South American countries presently dominate the Head-On-Shrimps market in Europe.
At Kings Farms, high quality shrimps are produced using SISTA360 Protocols ensuring sustainability and traceability to meet the most stringent quality standards in European Markets. The company decided to dedicate a separate line of our production in Tuticorin factory to cater into European Market, he said